Mama
by PygmyCritter
Summary: Judith's first words encourage Beth to have a talk with Rick about his lack of involvement with his own children. (Future Rick/Beth pairing..in theory)
1. Chapter 1

Beth stared down at the baby girl before her in shock. Surely, the child couldn't have just said what she thought she did.

"Mama." the baby cooed again with a brilliant smile before starting to gnaw on her own little fist.

Beth shook her head. She loved this baby, didn't think she could love her more if she were her own, but she felt it was somehow wrong for the little girl to be calling her 'mama'. She knew the baby would never know her mother, but she did have a father.

"Your daddy hasn't spent enough time with you, has he?" she sighed as she picked Judith up. "We'll have to fix that, won't we, JuJu?" she realized she was calling Judith that again and cringed. She'd started doing it a few weeks before and had been trying to stop herself, yet she just kept doing it. "Maybe we should go say hi to your daddy." she adjusted the baby on her hip and set out in search of Rick. If anything, the baby's first words should have been 'daddy'.

* * *

Rick paced back and forth around the southern guard tower, carefully scanning the treeline for anything that moved. He knew they had won the first battle against the Governor, but he also knew he could come back at any time. What he didn't know was when and with how many people he would return. The fog his mind had been in had begun to lift as of late, but he still felt tired. And now, there were even more people to take care of. More people who depended on him to keep them safe.

He wished he could go back to how it all was before this started. A good job he enjoyed, a beautiful wife and child waiting at home for him. Though, looking back he wondered how happy he and Lori had been really. How strong was his friendship with Shane? In his gut he knew that neither were nearly as strong as he'd always thought.

He knew that he owned some responsibility in the problems in his marriage, but refused to take all the blame on himself. Lori should have spoken to him. But, had she tried to talk to him and he refused to listen? And as for Shane...He shook his head, not wanting those thoughts bouncing around in his mind at the moment.

"Rick?" Beth called from the door.

He turned to see her standing there, Judith clinging to her. "What's going on?" he asked, automatically going into panic mode. "Is everything okay inside?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine." she assured him. "I just thought Juju and I could use some fresh air, and that she might like to see her daddy."

"Juju?" Rick asked, eyebrow raised and a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"It's just a silly nickname I gave her." she groaned. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay." he laughed. "It's cute."

"Baby for a rifle?" she suggested as she held her hand out.

"How well can you fire a rifle?" he asked, hesitant to give her the weapon.

"Glenn's been teaching me." she replied. "Plus, you'll be right here." she pointed out, knowing full well that even if she go him to hold his daughter for a bit, he wouldn't be going too far away while he did it.

"Why are you so eager for me to spend time with Judith?" he asked as he propped the rifle against the wall and took the baby being offered.

"Because..." Beth took a deep breath. "She said her first word and you weren't there to hear it."

"She did?" he smiled as he gently bounced the little girl a bit. "What was it?"

"It was..uhhh...it was 'mama'." Beth watched him closely, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Mama." Rick stopped the bouncing and looked down at the baby he held.

"I didn't even think about it until she said it, but you haven't spent much time with her..."

"I've been kinda busy." he said defensively.

"I know, I'm not trying to say you're a bad father or anything." she tried to calm him. She could see that she'd hit a nerve.

"Just that I haven't been there for my kid.." Judith started squirming a bit and Beth could see that a fit was brewing.

"Here." she said as she replaced the rifle and moved to take Judith before she started bawling, attracting unwanted attention. "It's okay, Juju." she said soothingly.

"I've done the best I can." Rick said softly, almost wanting to cry as he watched his daughter be comforted and knowing he didn't know how to do it himself.

"I know." Beth whispered, not wanting to upset the baby anymore. "But, things are a bit calmer now..."

"We've got more people to take care of now." he pointed out.

"But at the moment we don't have some huge war we're getting ready to fight." she looked down and saw that the crisis was averted. "Delegate."

"What?"

"Let some of us do something." she answered. "I'm grateful for everything you've done for all of us, but right now you should just delegate some of burden and let us help you."

"I haven't been hogging responsibility just for fun."

"No, you've felt like you've had to do it all and I'm saying you don't." she moved to a seat that sat by the wall facing out. "Lighten your load."

"I don't know..." Rick turned and looked out of the tower, a few walkers milling around at the edge of the trees.

"Let us help." Beth insisted. "Get to know your little girl and spend some time with Carl, too." she got back to her feet. "Just let us help." she repeated as she headed out the door. She needed to give him some time to think about what she'd said. She knew she was right and she had to admit, she felt rather proud of herself for speaking up about it. If nothing else, everything that had happened was making her a bit more assertive. She liked that change in herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews and thanks to those who have decided to follow or have favorited the story. It's very much appreciated! :D**

* * *

Beth folded the last of Judith's clean laundry, checked on the sleeping baby one more time and decided she would finally go clean herself up before turning in for the night. Her mind kept going back to her talk with Rick, and she was afraid she had overstepped some boundaries. She didn't want to seem judgmental or controlling, but she could see such a change in Carl's attitude and then with Judith seeing her as her mother, she couldn't help but worry.

As far as Carl was concerned, she knew that everything had changed in the world around him, and with what he had seen and had to do, it went without saying he himself would change. But lately, he seemed to be growing colder and distant. She worried that if he went too long without someone pulling him back, he might end up a danger to himself and the group as a whole. She had tried talking to him, but that seemed to annoy him. Beth hoped that if Rick spoke to him, he might get through.

And she did panic a lot when Judith mumbled her first word. Part of her felt so happy and proud that the beautiful baby thought of her as her mother. It made her feel as though she had been doing a good job and that the girl felt safe and happy when Beth was around. She had always planned on being a mother, she just assumed that the first child to call her mama would be that she had given birth to.

Beth grabbed a tank top and a pair of shorts along with the towel she'd tossed at the end of her bed and after checking in on Judith one more time, headed off to the bathroom the group used most often. She rubbed her back and winced. Between carrying Judith around and bending over doing the laundry, her back was killing her. She longed for a nice big bath filled with hot water in which she could just soak for an hour or so. Alas, she had to make due with what they had available.

"Judith's asleep?" Rick asked as he leaned on the railing overlooking the area below them.

"Yeah." Beth caught her breath. She hadn't seen him standing there, the hall outside the cells being relatively dark. "You scared me."

"Sorry." he turned around and to face her.

"It's fine." she muttered. "I need to apologize for earlier, too." she might as well get this over with. "I just..."

"Wanted to help." Rick interrupted her. "I know you meant well."

"I did." she nodded, moving to join him by the railing.

"You were right." he sighed. "I've been so busy trying to keep us all safe..."

"And we appreciate it." Beth was quick to let him know.

"I'm gonna talk to Glenn, Daryl and Hershel in the morning." he informed her. "You are right and I should be spending some more time with my kids."

Beth didn't say anything. Of course it made her feel good to hear that she was in fact right, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to gloat about it. To hear that he would spend more time with the kids was good enough. She could do a little victory dance later before she went to bed.

Rick looked behind him and could see Carol's outline in her bed and realized that those who weren't on watch were up there and trying to sleep. "Could I talk to you down stairs?" he asked. "Unless you're busy."

"Sure, we can talk." she nodded. It seemed like he needed to talk and she wanted to be of help. Help beyond changing diapers. She followed him down to sit at the table where they gathered for their meals. She took a seat and watched as he paced around the room.

"I wasn't around when all this started." he began, not stopping his constant pacing around.

"Lori mentioned that." Beth replied quietly. "She said you'd been shot..."

"Yeah." He thought about stopping there, suddenly finding that he didn't want to talk. But, he knew it was best to talk, to get exorcise himself of some the ghosts that had been clinging to him. And since he didn't know Beth that well, she seemed the ideal person to talk to. "When I woke up, there were walkers everywhere."

Those initial feelings of fear and confusion came back to him. He remembered stumbling around desperately trying to make his way to his home only to find it empty, Lori and Carl nowhere to be found. The feeling of being alone and scared still woke him at night before he remembered that he had a whole new family surrounding him. He took comfort in knowing that he wasn't alone anymore.

"I wasn't there to protect Lori or Carl." he began talking again after taking a moment to get his emotions under control.

"Is that why you want to protect all of us?" Beth asked, feeling rather stupid for not seeing it before. "Because you couldn't be there at the beginning?"

"A man is supposed to protect his family." he explained. "Instead of me protecting them..."

"Shane." Beth muttered. She had heard the arguments and knew a lot more than she felt she should about all of that.

Rick simply nodded. "I don't know why I'm telling you all of this." he gave a small laugh.

"Because you don't know me very well." Beth answered for him. "If you try to talk to someone who knows you too well, it sometimes just doesn't work the same as talking to a stranger. Or someone who's practically a stranger."

"Been there, huh?" he asked as he took a seat across the table from her.

"Back at the farm." she nodded. "When.." she took a deep breath. "When I tried to kill myself. I couldn't talk to daddy or Maggie, but I was able to talk to Lori."

Rick leaned back in his chair and began drumming his fingers on the table. He could tell she didn't like bringing up that bit of her past, but she understood what he meant. He'd gotten to know the others pretty well, but with her always tucked away taking care of the baby and doing all of the cooking and cleaning, they'd not yet gotten the chance. Talking to her now, he felt that was a shame.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes and it was only broken when Judith's cries reached them from the floor above.

"I should go see to her." Beth said as she got to her feet, the shorts she'd been carrying falling to the ground.

"You go get ready for bed." Rick said. "I assume that's why you're carrying those around." he smiled.

"Yeah." she nodded. "But I can get her..."

"I can do see what she needs." Rick assured her.

"Her diaper." Beth informed him.

"Huh?"

"That's her dirty diaper cry." she explained.

"Oh well, okay then." he started up the stairs behind her. "I can handle a diaper change."

"Everything is there in my cell by her playpen." Beth told him as she turned to head for the bathroom.

"Thanks, Beth." he said. "Thanks for everything."

Beth just smiled in response and watched as he quickly headed off to her cell to see to the crying baby, hoping not to wake anyone. She felt good about what had happened that day. She'd gotten up the courage to talk to him about Carl and Judith, and then the talk they'd just had. She felt like they'd both made some progress. It was a good day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Short, quick chapter, but I thought I should get something out today while I have some time. Hope you like it. Thanks again for the reviews, etc!**

* * *

Rick walked into Beth's cell and headed straight for the crying baby. He needed to be careful not to wake the others. He held onto the baby, trying to soothe her as he picked up a diaper and package of wipes, right where Beth said he'd find them. It was almost like magic how quickly Judith ceased her crying once she was clean and dry again.

As he held Judith and looked around, he realized how much effort Beth had gone through to make the cell as nursery-like as she could. A handmade mobile hung over the playpen that Judith slept in. From what he could tell it was made up of bits of colored paper and what appeared to be the small foil packets from the numerous packages of ramen noodles the group ate. Some drawings of flowers and butterflies hung on the walls and he noticed that the floor around the playpen was covered in interlocking rubber mats. Though he felt bad not spending enough time with his little girl, he could see that she was in very good hands. He was truly impressed with what Beth had done to make Judith comfortable and to make things as normal for her as was possible.

"She's takin' good care of you, isn't she, sweetheart?" he whispered as he held onto Judith, sitting down on the edge of Beth's bed. He smiled as he noticed Judith drifting off to sleep again. Babies were amazing. One minute screaming and crying and then the next sleeping as though nothing had ever even bothered them. He wished he could do the same.

"She went back to sleep fast." Beth entered the room and tossed her towel at the end of her bed.

"Yeah." he quietly replied, not wanting to wake the sleeping baby. "This room looks good." he added, nodding towards the wall opposite them.

"Oh, those." Beth said dismissively. "Sometimes I have time to kill while waiting for the washing to dry and while she's having her nap."

"And that mobile."

"So many of those little packets, why waste them?" she shrugged with a laugh.

"I owe you." Rick carefully got to his feet and deposited the sleeping Judith back into her bed, tucking a small blanket around her.

"It's fine." she assured him. "Someone has to take care of her, and Carol helps all the time."

"But she's not the one Judith started calling 'mama'." he pointed out.

"Daryl's to blame for that."

"Daryl?" he asked in confusion.

"He's always coming around when Carol and I are with Juju and makin' comments about how I'm a ''good little mama''." she explained with a slight blush. Whether the blush was at what Daryl had said or if it was the fact that it was Daryl saying it, Rick wasn't sure.

"Well considering some of the words I've heard him use, I think she went with the right one." he laughed.

"That's a good point." she agreed.

"Well, I'm due for watch soon, and you look beat, so I'll go." he said as he headed for the door. "Like I said, I owe you a big one." and with that he was gone.

* * *

"Hey, Carl." Rick said as he approached the boy, patting him on the shoulder.

"Hey." Carl muttered without even looking at his father.

"What are ya up to?" Rick asked as he took a seat across from his son as the boy ate his breakfast.

"Eating, what does it look like?" he sighed.

"Stupid question, I know." Rick nodded. "You up for some target practice later?"

"I don't need target practice." Carl was starting to sound annoyed. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothin' is wrong with me." his father replied. "I just wanted to spend some time with you, and there's not a whole hell of a lot to do here."

"Don't you have other things to do?" Carl ate the last bit of the oatmeal in his bowl. He hated the stuff, but it seemed to be just about the only breakfast food anyone ever brought back.

"I'm gonna take a little break from the leader thing." he informed him.

"Because Beth is makin' you." Carl got to his feet and headed to the prison kitchen, leaving his father staring after him.

"Beth?" Rick asked as he caught up to him.

"I heard her talking to you yesterday in the tower." he tossed the bowl in the sink and went to leave without rinsing it. One look from Carol and he turned to wash the bowl. "She's freaking because of Judith callin' her mama and was telling you to spend more time with us."

"She has a point." Rick led the boy to a quiet corner. "I've been neglecting my responsibility to you and your sister."

"You didn't know that until she pointed it out?" he scoffed.

"I'm not gonna lie and say I've tried to be there for you two, but I've been so busy..."

"Playing hero and keeping everyone safe." Carl cut him off. "Yeah, dad, I know all about it."

"What's with this attitude?"

"Like you just said, you've been ignoring me." Carl shrugged,trying to move away.

"And I am gonna make it up to the both of you." Rick lowered his voice as one of the Woodbury residents passed by. "I've spoken to Glenn, Daryl and Hershel. We're gonna make sure everyone is pulling their weight. That's gonna leave me a lot more time to be with you two."

"I've got my own things to do." Carl wouldn't make eye contact. "Keep Beth and Judith company, like you did last night."

"Last night?" Rick stared at the boy in front of him. Beth was right, he was changing and it definitely was not a good change. "Judith needed changing and Beth was busy."

"Okay." Carl simply shrugged, eager to get away and be on his own. "You don't have to explain anything to me."

"There is nothin' to explain." Rick was trying hard to keep his temper in check. He was greatly to blame for Carl's attitude, so he felt he didn't have the right to be too angry when the boy started acting out as he was doing just then.

"Can I go now?" Carl asked.

"Don't leave the prison." Rick replied, giving up for the moment.

"What?" Carl finally looked at his father. "Why can't I go out?"

"You can stay in here, help Carol and Beth with some stuff here."

"Let them deal with the cooking and cleaning." Carl argued. "Beth especially is used to doing it."

"Which is why we're gonna change things a bit." Rick took a deep breath. "They're gonna get out more and the rest of us are gonna help out."

"Whatever." Carl growled. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"Go ask Hershel, he's assigning jobs today."

"Fine."

Rick watched as his boy stalked off and wanted to kick himself. Was his absence really the only reason for his son's attitude? Was something else going on? His first attempt at trying to repair that relationship hadn't gone too well, but he was determined not to give up. He had a lot to make up for, and he was determined to make up for everything.


	4. Chapter 4

Beth ran up to Rick as he was about to head up to the top of the guard tower. "Hey, Rick?" she called breathlessly.

"Everything okay?" he asked, adjusting the rifle that hung from his shoulder.

"Yeah, fine." she held her side. She'd had to run quite a bit to catch up to him. One thing about being in the prison all the time, you didn't have to really run from anything. That was good for safety reasons, but she felt like she was getting out of shape at the same time. "You said the other night that you owe me, right?"

"Yeah, I said that." he nodded, not sure where she was going with this. "And I meant it."

"Okay, good." she smiled. "I want you to take me on the next run with you."

"That's how you want me to repay you?" he stared at her surprise, a quick laugh forcing its way out before he could stop it.

"I just need to get out of here for a bit." she sighed. "I already talked to daddy and he said it was okay if I got either you or Daryl to agree to take me with you."

"And since I said I owed you one..."

"That and the fact that I don't think Daryl likes me very much." she admitted. "He says I talk too much."

"Yet he spends his free time with you and Carol." he held the door to the tower open for her as they spoke.

"Because he talks to Carol all the time." she headed up the stairs. "So, do you think I can go?"

"Your dad said it was okay?" he asked as they reached the top of the tower. He didn't want to do anything to anger Hershel, and should anything happen to Beth, he knew he'd be in for it.

"Yeah, he did." she nodded enthusiastically. "So?"

"You've been keeping up on your target practice?" he asked as set up his watch spot.

"Daryl's been teaching me to use one of the crossbows you've brought back." she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. She was about to go crazy just sitting around the prison. She'd been assigned to guard duties since Rick had given up some control of things and she'd enjoyed doing something other than changing diapers and cooking. But she still had to get out and see something other than the prison walls surrounding her.

"If your dad says it's okay, you can come." Rick shrugged. "We usually split up so we can cover more area, so you can just stick with me."

"Thank you!" she squealed as she hugged him.

"You really do need to get out more often." he laughed as he awkwardly returned the hug.

"I do." she nodded with a big smile. "Well, I've gotta get back inside." she gave a quick wave and turned on her heel and headed out the door past Carl who had just arrived to keep watch with his father.

"What was that?" he asked as he set up as far from his father as he could.

"She's gonna go on the next run with Daryl and I." Rick answered.

"She's going?" Carl asked, not even trying to mask his shock or annoyance.

"Hershel said she could, and I owe her." Rick watched Carl as the boy continued to refuse to even look at him.

"I'd be of more use than her." Carl groused. "But tomorrow I'll be stuck in the stupid kitchen cleaning dishes and helping Glenn cook."

"It's best that we all do a little bit of everything." Rick turned and focused his attention on the area outside the prison fences. "And have a day off once in a while."

"And she's gonna give up her free day to ride into town with you?" Carl asked. "I see how it is."

Rick didn't like the tone the boy was using, but he had figured one thing out over the last few days, and that was he needed to pick his battles. There were times when Carl started getting an attitude that Rick just had to ignore since he'd come to learn that arguing would just make things ten times worse than before. He glanced back one more time at the boy he hardly knew anymore. He would get his Carl back, he had promised himself that time and time again.

* * *

"You sure it's a good idea if the kid comes with us?" Daryl asked as he got onto his motorcycle. He didn't like taking too many people on supply runs, especially not if that person didn't have a lot of experience with those runs.

"She says you've been teaching how to use that small crossbow." Rick replied as he loaded his gun and Beth's crossbow into the back of the SUV. "You confident in your teaching skills?" he smiled.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Daryl shifted in his seat. "She's never been out with us.."

"And since we're all supposed to take on different roles, it's about time she does."

"So long as she's with you and I don't have to take responsibility for her." Daryl nodded towards Beth as she approached.

"That's the deal today." Rick nodded. "You ready?" he asked Beth.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go." she smiled.

Daryl just shook his head and started his bike up. The girl was nice enough, but she was a bit too chipper for his liking. People like that always made him feel...weird.

"And that's why I didn't bother askin' him." Beth whispered to Rick as she fastened her seat belt.

"He's a good guy." Rick replied as he started up the Tucson and started following Daryl.

"Oh, I know that." Beth said as she played with a bottle of water. "I never said he wasn't. He's always really good with Juju and Carol."

"And Carl." Rick added.

"I hate to say it, but right now no one's good with Carl."

"I have noticed that." he sighed. "When we get there, you need to stay close by." Rick changed the subject. He needed to let her know how it was going to work, and getting away from the topic of Carl was a bit of a perk. He loved his boy, but he was at a loss as to how to handle him at the moment. "You don't go anywhere I can't see you."

"Okay." Beth nodded. "I have no intention of doing anything stupid. I go where you go."

"That's what I wanna hear." he smiled. "Are you sure this is what you want as your reward for Judith?" he felt like taking her out wasn't much of a prize. Gathering supplies while dodging walkers wasn't his idea of a good time.

"I just want to get out and get some fresh air." she seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the outing. "Even seeing an empty town sounds fun right now."

"You haven't really been out since we got to the prison, have you?" he asked, thinking back.

"Not unless you count when you had us hide out in the woods." she gazed out the window and watched the trees fly by. "I don't count that though."

"No, that doesn't count." he sighed.

He'd never thought about how isolated the group had become. They didn't know how many others were out there, trying to survive, and with them holed up at the prison, they probably never would know. He worried about Judith growing up with so little contact with anything outside the prison walls, but when he thought of what was out there, he felt it was a sacrifice that would have to be made, by everyone in the group. A little boredom and isolation was preferable to being killed either by a walker or someone trying to make it on their own. As long as the prison remained safe, that's where they would have to stay.


	5. Chapter 5

The group stopped outside a small shop with the name "Harlan's" scrolled across the faded sign and looked around.

"You take the kid and see what you can find in here." Daryl nodded towards the store. "I'm gonna head to the pharmacy up the street and see what's left there."

"Sounds like a good enough plan." Rick agreed, noticing the annoyed look on Beth's face when being referred to as ''the kid''. "You ready, Beth?" he asked as he made sure that he had not only his rifle, but at least one knife on him before he ventured into the seemingly abandoned store.

"I am." she nodded, her nerves starting to show.

"If you're not sure, or not ready, you could always wait out here in the car." he offered.

"No, I said I wanted to help, and that's what I'm gonna do!" she insisted.

"Okay, okay, fine." he said. "I'm gonna go in ahead of you, make sure the coast is clear." he explained as he readied his rifle. "You stay close behind me." he repeated some of the rules he'd laid out on the drive there. "You don't leave the store if I don't. You be quiet, don't talk any louder than you need to, and be careful as you move things around. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

"Okay, got it." she nodded as she grasped her crossbow. She felt like a bit of an idiot following along behind him, as stealthily as she could. This was new to her. She was used to being the domestic one. But, she'd asked for a change, and here she had it. She had thought it would be interesting, and now she felt like she'd made a mistake. Too late to second-guess her decision now, though. The last thing she wanted was to put Rick in danger because she was incompetent.

Rick slowly opened the door and looked around. At first glance, it appeared to be just a small mom-and-pop type store that sold a little bit of everything. Candy bar displays stood by the two out of date registers, magazine racks served double duty, also marking a line between the two registers. As he moved in, waving Beth in behind him, he could better see the layout of the store. A small jewelry counter sat about fifteen feet or so from the front entrance of the store, its contents having been removed at some point.

"Looks smaller from the outside." Beth whispered as she crept along behind Rick, paying careful attention to her feet so as not to tread on the broken glass that lay scattered around.

"Mmhmm." he replied as he moved to the back of the store, to the emergency exit. "It looks to be clear." he whispered to her as he took a deep breath. Supply runs always worried him, and with a rookie trailing him, his nerves were worse than usual. "Quietly and carefully look around and grab anything you think we'll need." he instructed. "I'm gonna keep an eye at the door."

"Okay." Beth nodded as she headed to the small grocery area. There wasn't much left, a few cans of Spam, more noodles and some boxes of cereal she could only assume were well past their sell-by-dates. She scanned all of the food for expiration dates and carefully arranged them in one of the bags she carried. She knew if she pack things neatly, she'd be able to bring more back with her.

She wandered around as quietly as she could and picked up just about anything she could get her hands on. She didn't know if any of the few articles of clothing she'd grabbed would fit anyone in their group, but figured it couldn't hurt to have them on hands, just in case. She had been hoping to find more for Judith, but was rather disappointed. It seemed as though either her own group or another had taken all there was to have in the way of baby formula and baby clothing was surprisingly hard to come by. How many babies were out there? she wondered. Of course, many people had babies when all of this started, and while she knew that some of them had probably succumbed to the harsh conditions, she could only assume that some had in fact survived.

She was in the back of the store in what was once the garden section and scanned over the few garden decorations that were littering the shelves and floor. She scooped up a few packets of seeds and slipped them into her pack. She didn't even pay attention to what they were, but they fit in her pack, so they were going back with her. As she took a minute to look for some sort of planting soil or fertilizer, she heard a shuffling sound outside the fire exit. She froze for a minute and listened harder. She heard it again and held her breath as the sound seemed to stop just outside the door. Carefully and quietly, she got to her feet and made her way to the front of the store where Rick was keeping watch.

"There's something out back." she said as she tugged at his sleeve."

"Something like what?" he asked. "A walker?"

"I don't know." she shook her head. "It was moving really slow,so I would guess it was."

"Okay." he eyed the back door, half expecting it to burst open allowing hoards of walkers to spill in. "You got all you need?" he asked as he brought his rifle up, just in case.

"There's not much left here." she replied. "I think I've pretty much cleared the shelves."

"Okay then, let's head for the car and go get Daryl." he took one of the bags she carried, flung it over his shoulder and headed out, Beth staying so close behind him that he could almost feel her breathing on him. Quickly, he flung open the passenger side door and scooted across to the driver said, Beth right behind him, closing her door and locking it.

"I think that might have been what I heard." she gestured towards a walker who was just making its way from beside the shop they'd just exited.

"We've just gotta get Daryl and we can go." Rick started the engine and headed down the street, both of them keeping an eye out for the other man's bike.

"I have a question." Beth muttered as she kept a look out both for the bike and for anymore walkers. "How does Daryl's bike not attract tons of walkers?" It was a question that had been driving her crazy every time she saw him on it. She could just imagine walkers coming out of the woodwork and tearing him to pieces since there was nothing to protect him.

"Beats me." Rick shook his head. "I've wondered the same thing."

"I see his bike!" Beth pointed down a side street, more closely resembling an alley.

"He must still be inside." Rick sighed as he stopped the car. "I'm gonna go in and get him, you stay here and keep watch." he instructed.

"Be careful." Beth said as she watched him get out. She put her window down just enough fit the end of her crossbow through and readied herself for the worst.

She watched as he sneaked into the small pharmacy, a pistol in his hands. She didn't even know he had a pistol on him. She'd seen the rifle and the knife, and she could only assume he'd had the pistol hidden someplace. She didn't let her mind dwell on that. She couldn't since even as she was wondering about his hiding place, a movement to her right caught her attention. A walker approached Daryl's bike and it seemed to survey its surroundings. She often thought they looked a bit like dogs trying to catch a scent. She held her breath, hoping it would just go on its way and put some distance between itself and the building where her companions were.

"Go on." she whispered. She was ready to fire if she had to, but she didn't have many bolts and didn't want to waste any. Rick had left his rifle in the car with her, but she didn't know if she could handle the kickback of the rifle. "Go on." she hissed as the creature she watched shifted its attention to the pharmacy. She was desperate to see the two men emerge, dispatch the waiting walker and then they could all be on their way. That was what she so desperately wanted to see, but as she was sending up a little prayer for that, she saw more movement. Two more walkers moving to join the first.

Beth took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. She knew that it was likely she was going to have to get rid of them on her own, and how she hated the thought. She wasn't good with killing walkers, even though she knew it had to be done. Her decision was made for her when three more walkers approached and started banging on the front window of the pharmacy. Even from her spot in the parked car, she could see the window about to give way. She didn't know if she should try to get rid of a couple of them, or if Rick and Daryl would be able to do it themselves. More walkers appeared and made their way to join the group that had started to surround the building.

"Damn." she took a deep breath and took aim at one of the walkers who was about to bust out the front window. She didn't think either man had enough ammo to make their way out. She had to help them. She thought back to everything Daryl had taught her as she was learning to use the crossbow. She got her breathing under control, took aim and in the blink of an eye, the bolt from her crossbow was flying through the air, catching one of the creatures in the back of the head and sending the creature to the ground in a heap. She set up another bolt and decided which one was most important to get rid of next. As she held her breath, she let another bolt fly, and then another. She could then see Daryl at the front window giving her a thumb's up and she knew she'd made the right decision. She was down to her last bolt when she saw the two men emerge from the side door, shooting and stabbing their way through the throng that had gathered. She let her last bolt go, catching a walker that was approaching Daryl's blind side. She knew she only had the rifle left to use. She would only use if she had to, she decided. She wasn't used to the rifle and she feared she had as much chance of hitting either Rick or Daryl as she did hitting any of the walkers that remained.

Both Rick and Daryl were down to only their knives, Daryl not being able to retrieve any of his arrows and Rick being out of ammo. Before she knew what was happening, one of the walkers was on top of Rick as he struggled to free himself and get to the knife that had been knocked out of his hand. Beth lifted the rifle, trying hard to remember her lessons with that particular weapon and set up to aim. She tried to steady her shaking hand and to steady her breathing, knowing that both could cause the bullet to go off course. She took one last deep breath and pulled the trigger, the recoil of the gun knocking her back into the driver's seat and knocking the breath out of her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a short chapter for today, but I wanted to get something up. Thanks again for the reviews etc. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Damn girl, it took you long enough to start firing!" Daryl's voice rang out as Beth lay sprawled across the front seat, trying to catch her breath which had been knocked out of her, her ears ringing from the firing of the rifle.

"Calm down, Daryl." Rick groaned as he helped the other man remove the bolts from the walkers that scattered the ground around them. "She helped and we got out okay."

"Just sayin', the kid coulda started a bit sooner." Daryl pulled the last bolt out. "I'll be nice and clean these off for you!" he called out.

"You okay?" Rick asked as he slowly opened the driver side door and looked down at the surprised girl.

She could only nod in response, still waiting for air to return to her lungs.

"We're gonna get the supplies loaded up and then we'll head back." he laughed as he spoke. He knew she wasn't seriously hurt, and the look on her face was too amusing not to laugh at.

She nodded again and watched him disappear from view. They had obviously been able to fend off the rest of the walkers on their own. She was happy to see that. She wasn't happy about the fact that Daryl would dwell on the fact that she had, in his opinion, been to slow to open fire. And she knew that he wouldn't soon let her forget her weakness in letting the rifle knock her over like it had. It would be good natured, in his own way, but it was something she could without.

She was finally able to muster enough strength to sit up and winced at the pain in her shoulder. As she pulled back the collar of her shirt, she could see a nasty bruise already forming. Maggie was going to have a fit. Her father would hover a bit when she got back, but she knew he would just check her over to see that she was alright and then leave her to heal. Maggie on the other hand would be upset that her baby sister had been allowed out on a run. They'd had discussions about it before and Maggie had let it be known that she felt it was best that Beth remain inside the fences. She would just have to let her sister be upset. There wasn't anything she could do about it at that point.

"Hey, you're upright." Rick teased as he climbed in. "You sure you're alright?" he asked again.

"I'm okay." she replied, her lungs finally getting the required air back into them. "Just a bruise on my shoulder."

"Gonna hurt for a bit, but it's not too bad." he remarked. "I had a pretty nasty one the first time I shot a rifle, too."

"Good." Beth stared out the windshield at Daryl's back as he led the way out of town and back to the prison.

"Good?" Rick asked, a bit confused.

"I don't mean it's good you were hurt, just good to know I'm not the only one who had that happen."

"Oh, well I didn't get knocked off my ass." he corrected her. "Just a bruise."

"It's a big gun." she defended herself. "I'm not used to it." she gently moved her arm around and wished she hadn't as pain erupted. "Can I say one thing, and I don't mean to be rude..."

"What's that?" Rick asked as he set the cruise control and settled back in his seat.

"On the next run, someone needs to find some nose hair trimmers." she looked straight ahead.

"Excuse me?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"When you opened the door earlier, I couldn't help but notice..."

Rick just stared at her for a moment and went silent. She was afraid that she'd offended him, but he suddenly burst into laughter. "Thanks a lot." he shook his head.

"I said I didn't mean to be rude." Beth couldn't help but laugh as well.

"I'm sure there are a few beauty routines you've been missin' out on,too, ya know." he seemed to be settling into the driver's seat a bit more, letting his left arm hang out the open window as they drove along.

"But it wouldn't be gentlemanly to point any of them out." Beth replied with a smile.

"And it's the height of lady-like manners to comment on a man's nose hair?" he asked, giving her a skeptical look.

"Shhh." she said. "I'm gonna try to take a nap on the way back." she settled back in her own seat, half wishing she hadn't said anything. The other half was enjoying the banter they had going at the moment, but she really was quite tired.

"You do that." Rick said, looking straight ahead. "I'll be sure to tell you how much you drool and snore when you wake up. You know, not trying to be rude or anything..."

"I don't do either of those things!" she insisted.

"You're asleep, how would you know?"

"Well...snoring I guess I wouldn't know about, but I think I'd notice if I woke up with a soaked pillow."

"Well then I'll let you know about the snoring then." he promised.

"I don't think you can be trusted." she yawned and was soon out.

* * *

"What all did you get?" Carol asked as she closed the gate behind the returning party.

"A good laugh seeing the kid have her scrawny ass knocked back after firing the rifle." Daryl said as he got off his bike.

"Glad I could give you a laugh." Beth replied dryly.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked as she appeared at her sister's side, looking her over for any marks.

"She's just got a bruised shoulder." Rick informed her as he and the other began to unload the supplies.

"What happened?" Maggie demanded as she began to search for the bruise.

"Kick back from the gun." Beth said, swatting her sister's hands aside. "Stop it, I'm fine!" she insisted.

"Come on, Bethy." Hershel said. "I wanna look at that shoulder, just to be safe." he motioned for her to follow him. "You boys okay?" he asked.

"Both without a scratch." Daryl nodded.

"Daddy, I'm fine." Beth sighed. "I need to help then unload everything." she insisted.

"It's fine." Rick said. "Let him look you over. Get it over with now, you know he'll just be waiting to do it."

Beth looked at her father and knew Rick was right. Sooner or later her father would force her to let him look at her shoulder. She knew this well enough and didn't know why she even bothered to argue. "Fine." she said. "I'll help you all sort the stuff out though." she called over her shoulder. "I know where most of the stuff goes."

"They can do it without you, Bethy." Hershel said as he ushered her inside. "Come on, you wanna get this over with, right?"

"Yes, daddy." she was resigned to being babied. Sometimes it was good to be spoiled, and other times it drove her mad. This was definitely one of the times it was driving her mad.

"Was it good to get out for a while?" he asked as he walked alone next to her as they went inside.

"You have no idea how nice it was for me to get out." she smiled. "I actually had fun."


	7. Chapter 7

**I know I'm going a bit slow, but I want to make sure I develop Rick/Beth's relationship before I decide to throw them together...unless I decide to go another direction. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading.**

* * *

"You're workin' all on your own today?" Rick asked as he walked into the kitchen area and scooped Judith up.

"For now." Carol nodded with a smile as she watched him bounce the baby girl on his knee. "My helper has been stolen for the time being."

"Stolen?" he asked.

"Daryl's got her out working on her rifle skills again." Carol took a large pan from the stove and poured its contents into a metal tub,soaking some clothes.

"Third time this week." Rick stopped bouncing Judith and brought her up close to his body and hugged her. "Are you okay with that?" He'd noticed how close Carol and Daryl had become. He was afraid some jealousy might start rearing its ugly head.

"I'm fine." she nodded. "Daryl and I are just friends. He do what he wants with whom ever he wants." she smiled as she prodded the soaking clothing with wooden spoon. "Are you okay with it?" she countered.

"I like him, but only as a friend." he joked. "He's not really my type."

"You've changed over the last couple of weeks." she laughed. "You're smiling and laughing more."

"Well, I've got this gorgeous little creature here to thank for that." he picked Judith up, turned her to face him and smiled.

"Her and a certain young woman." Carol teased.

"There's about as much going on there as there is with you and Daryl." he assured her. "I do owe her though. I do feel a bit more relaxed since letting others help more, and I get to spend time with my baby girl here."

"And how are things going with Carl?"

"Some days, it seems like I make some progress with him and then the next, it's like that progress never happened." his expression looked more serious.

"The fact that you can make any progress is a good sign." Carol patted his knee. "You'll get there."

"Feels like one step forward and two back, though." he sighed. "I wish the good moods would last longer."

"Being a parent is hard enough under the best circumstances, let alone with how things are now." Carol started fishing the clothes out of the steaming water. "I do wish that I still had my Sophia..." she rested the spoon on the side of the tub and thought of her lost daughter.

Rick just nodded, knowing that he didn't really need to say anything. Both of them had lost so much, so they knew each other's pain. All of them had lost a lot. At times, he felt as though he had gotten off easy compared to Carol. Granted, he'd lost Lori, but she'd lost a husband and child. He had to admit, however, the loss of her husband was a bit of a blessing. Losing her little girl though...Rick shuddered at the thought of losing one of his children.

"Sorry that took so long, Carol." Beth suddenly burst into the room, smiling and full of energy. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" she asked when she saw the expression on Rick and Carol's faces.

"No, sweetie, nothing at all." Carol smiled. "How was your lesson today?"

"Well, I didn't let myself get knocked down today." Beth grimaced a bit as she absent mindedly played with Judith's hair. "And no new bruises."

"You're well on your way to being the next Annie Oakley." Carol laughed.

"If only." Beth moved to the other side of the room, picked up one of the bags she'd had with her the day of the supply run and dumped the contents on the table revealing a pile of various fruit and vegetable seeds. "We're gonna try to get some of these planted today, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, just let me get these clothes hung up." Carol nodded.

"What fun things are you gonna get up to?" Beth asked Rick as she took Judith who held her tiny arms out to the older girl, begging to be held.

"We're working on clearing out the shower area." Rick answered as he handed the baby over.

"I hope you can get that done soon." Carol sighed. The idea of a real shower was so appealing.

"I guess it'd be too much to ask that they have some baths down there." Beth laughed.

"I'm sure we'll find some when we get to the prison spa." Rick shook his head at the thought of baths.

"I would so love to have a nice, long, hot bath." Beth said dreamily.

"That would be nice." Carol agreed. "Hi, Carl." she added, smiling to the boy who'd just appeared at the door.

"I wanna go down with you when you start clearin' the showers." he informed his father, ignoring Carol's greeting.

"Sorry, I have other plans for you." Rick got to his feet.

"What other plans?" Carl was obviously annoyed at being left out of clearing another area of the prison of walkers.

"You're gonna go out and help Beth and Carol plant some seeds." he informed his son.

"It doesn't take three people to do that." Carl protested.

"Well, we're gonna be takin' Juju out with us, so another person would be good." Beth said as she shifted the baby from one hip to the other.

"Her name's Judith, not Juju." Carl snapped. "And it'd be better for me to be down there killin' those sons of..."

"You're not going down there!" Rick cut the boy off. "You're gonna stay up here and help them."

"Dad..."

"No, you're gonna do as I say." Rick insisted. "And she can call Judith that if she wants, nothing wrong with her havin' a nickname." he turned to Carol. "He'll help you out any way you need." he informer her.

"Okay." she smiled and nodded as she hung the last bit of clothing up. "It'll be fun, Carl."

"We're digging holes and dropping seeds in, how fun can it be?" he asked as he glared at Rick.

"We're gonna need you to keep watch." Beth replied, thinking that the idea that he was their protection would appeal to him more. "With so much fencing and stuff, we never know if it's been broken through. Carol and I could use someone to watch our backs while we plant."

"And, of course, guarding Judith." Carol nodded, catching on quickly to what Beth was doing.

"Fine." Carl folded his arms and proceeded to stew a bit.

"Thank you." Rick mouthed to Beth before going to meet up with Maggie, Daryl and Glenn to clear the shower area.

Beth just replied with a quick smile and nod. She was hoping things would be progressing a bit more quickly where Carl was concerned, but she knew it would take time for him to come back around.


	8. Chapter 8

Carl kept watch as he was told. He couldn't help but watch as Beth hovered over Judith, laughing and acting so happy. How could she be happy right now? She saw what was going on around them, and yet she seemed not to care. Well, she had cared back at the farm when she'd tried to off herself. But now, she just sat there playing mommy, planting her stupid seeds as if everything were fine.

She'd lost own mother, which had been a part of led to her suicide attempt, but other than that...The more he watched her, the more he came to loathe her. He had respect for Carol. Not only had she lost her child, but she'd had to survive on her own, fighting for her life when they all thought she'd been killed with T-Dog.

Beth though...Beth was the one everyone protected and babied. She'd not really done anything for the group beyond cooking and looking after a baby. The only time he'd seen her kill a walker, he thought it sloppy and amateur. It had seemed so Beth to him.

"Come on over and plant a few seeds." She was suddenly standing at next to hiim.

"I gotta keep watch, remember?" he asked, trying to move away.

"We're fenced in, and there's someone in each guard tower." Beth tried to persuade the boy. "Come on, gardening is relaxing."

"I don't want to plant any seeds, okay?" his tone made her take a step back.

"Fine, okay." she headed back to Carol and Judith.

Judith sat, propped against one of Carol's knees, and was having the time of her life playing in the dirt, and with the open seed packets. "No, don't eat the seeds, Juju." Beth sprinted over to get the radish seeds away from the small girl just as she was about to swallow a handful. "Silly girl, do you want them growing in your tummy?" she tickled the baby, eliciting giggles and squeaks from the little one.

"You're not her mother." Carl muttered as he watched them.

"Huh?" Beth looked up in surprise.

"I said, you're not her mother." he repeated coolly. "Don't matter if she calls you mama, are are not her mother and you never will be."

"I'm not tryin' to be." she was taken aback by Carl's words and the way in which he said them.

"Looks to me like you are." he argued.

"Carl, that's enough." Carol scolded him. "You get back to your lookout and we'll finish up our planting. She hoped to put an end to this before it got out of hand.

"And, her name is Judith." he ignored Carol as if she'd never even spoken.

"I'm not trying to be anyone's mother." Beth repeated. She knew she just ignore him, but his words struck a nerve. "But she's a baby and needs love and attention."

Carl scoffed.

"That's what I'm gonna give her." she continued. "All of us need love and attention, no matter how old we are. We've been trying to give both of those things to you, but you keep pushing her away."

"All the love and attention in the world ain't gonna fix this mess." he spread his arms wide as he yelled. "Not gonna bring anyone back."

"We've all lost someone, Carl." she pointed out. "I lost my mother, my dad lost his wife and his leg, nearly his life. Carol lost her little girl." she was on the verge of tears as she continued. "Poor Daryl lost his brother twice. We're all still holding on as best we can."

"You gave up." Carl spat at her. Remember? You gave up and tried to kill yourself!"

Beth stared at him open-mouthed. For a moment she couldn't seem to speak.

"I'm not proud of what happened that day." she whispered as she finally found her voice. "But I'm not too proud to admit that I was weak and something stupid in that moment of weakness." she swallowed hard, trying with all she had to keep the tears that threatened to fall from doing so. "You know who helped to bring me out of that though?" she asked. "Your mother." she took a deep breath. "I didn't know her well, but she was good to me in my time of need. And I hate to say this, but I think that if she were here right now, she'd be ashamed of you!"

"Shut up!" Carl growled. "You're just mad because you know how useless you are." he stepped forward. "Carol could take care of Judith, you could be gone, dead back at your stupid farm, and no one other than your dad would care. And that's only 'cause he's your dad."

Beth felt the air knocked from her just as she had the day of the supply run. She had managed to keep the tears back, but she knew she wouldn't be able to much longer. Without another word, she turned, picked Judith up and headed back inside before both of them started crying. She could see the baby was on the verge of tears as well.

Carol just stared at Carl in shock as he stalked off in the opposite direction. She felt as though she should have done something, but she had been frozen in place. After witnessing that, she began to fear that the Carl they all once knew was gone for good.

* * *

Beth ran up the stairs to her cell, clutching Judith to her chest, her tears starting to fall. She'd held back as long as she could.

"Bethy?" Hershel asked as he shambled up the stairs after her. He'd seen her coming in and he could tell she was about to cry, and he couldn't just sit by and not find out what had upset his baby girl. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." she put Judith into her crib and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"You come running in here in tears, I know something happened." he sat down next to her. "What's wrong, Bethy?"

It all came out in a flood of tears. Hershel could do nothing but sit there and listen to her as she explained what had happened. He clenched his jaw as she wept on his shoulder.

"You listen to me." he said as he brought her head up and held it in his hands. "Carl is not well right now. Everything he said a lie. We all love you and appreciate what you do for the group."

"Thanks, daddy." Beth sniffled. "I shouldn't have fought with him because I do know that he's not himself right now." She wasn't going to tell him that everything that Carl had said just before she came back inside had crossed her mind more than once as she watched all of the others contribute so much.

"You and Judith get some rest." he kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Hershel left his youngest and headed back downstairs. He had to take deep breaths to steady himself as he went. He wanted to yell at someone and the opportunity arose when he saw Rick and the others in the group who'd been clearing the shower area.

"Rick." he called over to the younger man. "I just wanna say first that I like and respect you a lot, and I've grown fond of that boy of yours, and I know he's been through a lot."

"Okay." Rick was completely lost as to what was happening. He was just going to report on the progress in the showers, and now he didn't know what to expect.

"But I have gotta say that if that boy of yours ever dares to speak to my Bethy again the way he did today, I will use my one good foot to put my boot so far up his ass that it's gonna come out his mouth, are we clear?" Hershel shook as he spoke, bits of spittle flying. "Same goes for you Glenn, where my Maggie is concerned." he said as he looked over Rick's shoulder. Might as well kill two birds with one stone as it were.

"Okay." Both Rick and Glenn nodded in confusion and a bit of fear.

"What the hell happened?" Daryl asked as he watched the old man hobble away.

"I don't know, but I think I need to go have a talk with Carl." Rick sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know what I'm gonna do with him."


	9. Chapter 9

Rick had spoken to Carol and had gotten the whole story from her. Part of him wished he hadn't asked her, but he knew he was going to have to know what had happened before he had his talk with Carl. His first instinct had been to go to Beth, to apologize for what had taken place, but he decided to leave her alone for a bit, give her time to recover from the verbal and emotional assault she had suffered.

He knew that Carl was getting bad, but he had no idea that he had gotten to the point he could say such hateful things to someone he'd been so fond of. Everyone knew about Carl's crush on Beth and they had all thought it rather cute and amusing. He walked along, trying to think of what he would say when he finally found the boy. So many things ran through his mind, but none of them seemed right. He'd tried a few of them before and they didn't seem to make any impression on his son. He was running out of ideas, but he needed to do something before Hershel made good on that promise he'd made. He'd been shocked to hear the old man, normally so gentle, make such a threat towards a child, but as he thought on it, he understood that he was a father looking out for his children. And Beth did seem to be the most precious thing to Hershel. He felt he himself would do the same if either of his children were treated the way Beth had been.

He caught site of Carl as he rounded the corner at the base of one of the guard towers, a shotgun in his hand. He took a deep breath as he headed over. He knew he was in for a fight, but it was one that had to happen.

"Carl!" he called out.

Carl glanced over his shoulder, saw his father, and continued on his way, ignoring Rick.

"Carl, stop." Rick jogged a little close the distance between the two of them. "Carl, I said stop!" he finally caught up to him, grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. Carl's response was to automatically raise his shotgun, which Rick knocked out of his hand easily. "Don't you dare do that again."

"Let go of me!" Carl struggled to be free.

"You and I are gonna have a talk." Rick dragged the boy along behind him as he headed to one of the towers that had recently been vacated.

"I don't want to talk to you." Carl screamed. "If you wanna talk, go do it with Beth."

"Shut up." Rick clamped a hand over the protesting boy's mouth, lifted him off the ground and carried him into the tower, shutting the door and locking it behind him. "You wanna attract more walkers?" he said as he released him.

"I don't wanna talk to you." Carl made a move for the door but was blocked. "You left my gun just sittin' out here."

"It'll be there later, and you might get it back, I haven't decided yet." Rick leaned against the door, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Might?" Carl asked in disbelief. "You have to give it back."

"I don't have to." Rick shook his head. "Especially not after what you did today."

"What did I do?" he asked, seemingly oblivious.

"What you said to Beth." Rick reminded him.

"Oh, that." he shrugged. "She went crying to you, huh?"

"No, she didn't." Rick took a deep breath. This was going to be exhausting. "Hershel spoke to me...threatened is more like it, actually."

"He threatened you?" Carl laughed.

"No, he threatened you." Rick stared at the smirking face in front of him, only a few traces of the boy he'd once known still visible. "And rightly so."

"He's going around threatening a kid, and you think that's right?" he questioned.

"After what you did..."

"You said Beth didn't say anything, so how would you know what happened?" Carl asked.

"I talked to Carol." Rick replied as he moved away from the door. "I cannot believe you said what you did."

"It's her fault!" Carl argued. "Always goin' around smiling trying to pretend this is all okay."

"It's how she's dealing with things." he explained. "Everyone deals with this crap in their own way, and hers is to try to make the best of things."

"The best of things?" Carl asked. "How could anything be even kind of okay right now?"

"We don't know what we're dealin' with. We need to just take things one day at a time and while we're doing that, why not try to make things as normal as they can be?"

"I want things to be like they were before." Carl slumped down to the ground.

"Before your mom died?" Rick asked, only imagining what it must have done to his son to be the one to have to pull the trigger that day.

"Before you got shot." Carl shook his head. "Before all of this started." he looked up to his father, feeling as though he'd hit rock bottom. "You went to work, I spent the day at school and we'd both go home to her at the end of the day." Rick could see his son's bottom lip start to tremble a bit. "Now everything is out of our control."

"Not everything." Rick knelt down next to the trembling boy. "We can control what's goin' on in here, how we all work with each other."

"The only time I feel in control is when I'm keepin' watch, and if a walker comes by...I know what I have to do...what I can do..." he broke down into tears. "It's the only time I feel I can do anything."

Rick dropped to the floor next to the crying boy and enveloped him in a strong hug. At first Carl resisted, trying to break free of his father's embrace, but after a moment or two, he gave in and clung to him. "I want everything the way it was before." Carl repeated as his tears soaked through Rick's shirt. "I want mom and Shane to be alive again...why did it all have to change?"

"I don't know." Rick held tight to Carl and began crying himself. He knew now that his marriage to Lori had been in trouble and wasn't sure if they would still be married if everything was as it was before he was shot and the dead started walking. He would never mention that to Carl, especially not now. "I'm sorry you've had to go through all of this."

"I miss mom." Carl started crying harder, his body shaking with each sob. "I didn't want to shoot her."

"I know, I know." Rick rocked his boy back and forth just as he had when Carl was a baby, or like he or Beth did for Judith was upset.

"I shouldn't have said that to Beth." Carl laid down and rested his head in Rick's lap. "I just got so mad watching her with Judith." he sniffled. "It should be mom with her. It should be mom that Judith looks at like that."

"I wish Judith could see your mom." Rick stroked his boy's hair, trying to soothe him. "Judith should be able to know her." he took a deep breath, feeling as though an old wound was being torn open. "I really wish she could see what a beautiful girl Judith is." he lifted the boy up so he could face him. "I wish all of the same things, but it can't be." he needed for both of them to be realistic. "Beth is the one who takes care of Judith, and we're here and we've gotta do what's needed to keep us all safe."

Carl just nodded. He knew his father was right. He was ashamed of how he'd been acting, but he didn't see the impact of it all until he saw Beth's expression just before she headed back inside. He just felt so helpless and empty. He wanted to be a normal kid again. He felt jealous that even with all of this happening, she could be herself. She could be happy and try to make others happy as well. For all he knew it could be an act she was putting on for everyone, but he doubted it. She did seem to be one of those people who tried to make the best out of any situation.

"I need to apologize to her." Carl decided, voicing his thought out loud. "I need to make things right."

"Yeah, you do." Rick looked at Carl and was trying to decide if this was his Carl, or if the boy was putting up a facade just to shut him up. The tears were real, though. If this was an act, Carl was damn good. "Give her some time though."

Carl nodded. "What's do I do now?"

"I don't know." Rick shook his head. "For a while, I think it's best you not go on any runs for a while. And, I think for the time being, I don't think you should do guard duty, either."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Carl asked, fearing that he would become what he'd accused Beth of being. Useless and a waste of space.

"You can help out in the kitchen." Rick got to his feet. "There's plenty to do. I just think you need to be start being a kid again."

"I don't want to be a kid." Carl argued. "I wanna be helpful."

"And you will be, trust me." Rick held out his hand to help Carl up. "You're my boy, and I love you." he said, taking Carl's face in his hands. "Don't ever forget that. No matter what, I love you."

"I know, dad." Carl nodded as Rick pulled him into a hug. "I love you, too. And I'm gonna try hard not to worry you. And to make up for all of the trouble I've caused."

Rick opened the door and put his arm around Carl's shoulder as they headed back to the prison. He couldn't help but stared down at the boy and wonder if this wasn't all just too easy. He understood that his outburst with Beth might have been a catalyst to get things started on Carl's road to recovery, but still, a part of him couldn't help but worry that he'd lose his son do the dark side he seemed to have gone over to before. He was going to have to keep a close eye on him, just to be safe.


	10. Chapter 10

Beth sat on the small walkway that wrapped around the top of the guard tower and stared up at the night sky. It had been a long day and she found this to be incredibly relaxing. She was still stinging from her fight with Carl, but after talking to her father, she was feeling better. A noise from the door alerted her to the fact that she was no longer alone, standing up slowly, she was relieved to see that it was just Rick.

"You scared me." she laughed. "I thought a walker had come to join me."

"Sorry." he smiled. "Karen's not feeling well, so I'm your lookout buddy tonight." he explained. He was a bit nervous about being around her, not knowing how she was doing after what Carl had said to her.

"Okay." she simply shrugged and sat back down to gaze up at the stars again.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier." he said as he looked out watching the few wandering walkers slowly amble along.

"You don't have to apologize." Beth replied, shifting her gaze from the sky to him.

"I had a good talk with Carl earlier." he informed her as he turned and leaned against the railing so he could face her. "I think his blow up earlier today might have been a good thing."

"A good thing?" Beth looked unconvinced.

"Not what he said...well..." he struggled to find the right words. "I think after what happened, he realized how far he'd gone and he opened up."

"What did he say?"

"He's missing Lori." he replied. "He just wants what all of us want. For everything to go back to the way it was."

"And he finally told you all this?" Beth smiled. "That's good." she got to her feet and moved to stand next to him against the railing. "Do you think we've got him back now?"

"I sure as hell hope so." he smiled at the thought of having his little boy back again. "I've missed him."

"We all have." she nodded. "But.."

"But?" he couldn't think what she could be thinking.

"But if none of this had happened, even all the losses we've had, none of us would have met." she couldn't help but let her mind dwell on that fact. "Maggie would never have met Glenn, and that's a great thing that's come out of all this ugliness."

"I never thought of that." Rick admitted. He felt he'd grown stronger since he'd woken up alone in that hospital. He had a strong group of friends he knew he could trust no matter what.

"I wish we could have my mama, and Lori and all the others back, but, at the same time, I hate the thought of never meeting you." she blushed. "All of you." she added. "The whole group...not just you." she laughed nervously. "I'm starting to sound like an idiot."

"No, I know what you mean." he couldn't help but laugh at the awkward moment. "And if I'm totally honest, if not for all of this, I don't think I'd have Judith."

"You and Lori might have had her.."

"Unless she's not mine." he hated saying the words, but he couldn't help the fact that the thought never really went away. "You've said it often enough, Judith looks so much like Lori, but there doesn't seem to any of me there."

"She's still so young." Beth pointed out. "My mother said I looked like my daddy until I was about 3, and then I started takin' after her."

"You're trying to make me feel better." Rick wasn't stupid. "And I appreciate it, but that doubt will always be there."

"Even if she is Shane's, it doesn't change how much you love her." Beth reminded him.

"No, she could be Big Foot's kid and I'd love her." Rick smiled.

"She's lucky to have you." she smiled up at him. "She and Carl both."

"And she's lucky to have you, too." he returned the smile. "I mean it. I was so worried when I found out I'd lost Lori, worried we wouldn't be able to take care of her, and yet, she's doin' so well. It's because of you."

"Well, you, Daryl, Maggie..anyone who's ever gone on a supply run..."

"Feedin' her is one thing." Rick stopped her. "You've given her a lot more than that."

"She's a great little girl." Beth shrugged. "How could I not?"

"Well, no matter why you've done it, thank you." Rick found himself staring at the girl next to him.

"You're welcome." Beth muttered as she blushed under his gaze. She suddenly felt self-conscious. And slightly giddy. "I should probably get back to keepin' watch." she cleared her throat and grabbed her crossbow. "I'll be over on the other side." she added, quickly heading off before she started giggling like an idiot. What was getting into her?

Rick watched her move off and picked up his gun and smiled. He didn't know why he felt so at ease with her, but he did. She was easy to talk to and usually knew what to say to lift his spirits. He had to admit that she was also easy on the eyes, but he wouldn't let himself dwell on that thought for long. It was completely inappropriate. She was 18 at most, and he was...well, he was a bit older than her. Not to mention that there were a couple of people who'd kill him if even he even had one impure thought about Beth. No, best to just get tonight's watch out of the way and keep his thoughts on that. He needed to be careful where she was concerned.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ow!" Beth hissed as she turned her head to grab the next pile of laundry.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked as she watched girl rub the back of her neck.

"Judith wouldn't sleep anywhere but my bed last night." she sighed as he started working the clothes into the warm, soapy water. "She takes up a lot or room for someone so small."

"It's amazing how kids can do that." Carol laughed, remembering when her own little one would get into those moods. She missed those days. She missed her little girl.

"She's adorable, but my neck is killing me." she gently moved her head side to side, wincing as she moved.

"Your dad might have something for you to take before you go for your lessons with Daryl." Carol began hanging the dripping wet clothing up to dry.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Beth groaned. She could only imagine how fun shooting a rifle would be with her neck aching like it did.

"Talk to your dad, you know Daryl won't let you out of your lessons unless you're about to die."

"Even then I think he'd complain and say I was being weak." Beth got to her feet. "That load there needs to soak...it's what they've been wearing down trying to clear the showers." she grimaced.

"Well if it has to soak, I guess that I have nothing to do for a bit." Carol smiled. "Perhaps a quick nap."

"Just be careful if Juju is still in her mood."

"I think I can handle it." Carol shooed the younger woman out the door. "Go on, get something for that neck of yours. You know who is gonna start getting mad if you keep waiting too long."

* * *

'"What the hell is wrong with you today, kid?" Daryl growled as Beth missed another shot.

""My neck is killin' me." she said again, for what seemed to be the hundredth time since the lesson began.

"Keep goin' like that and a damned walker will kill you." Daryl walked up behind her, kicked her feet apart to the appropriate distance and readjusted her arms. "I swear, one bad night's sleep and all that hard work is out the damn window."

""You're in a particularly bad mood today." she observed as she took a minute, lined up the shot and pulled the trigger.

"Finally, you hit one!" Daryl walked up to the target to see where exactly she'd hit it.

"Why the bad mood?" she asked as she lowered her gun.

"Never said I was in one." he set the target up again. She would have extra work to do to make up for her lousy performance earlier.

"You don't have to say it." Beth sighed. "I've been around you for an hour now, and it's not like you're hidin' it well." she watched him.

"Set up to shoot again." he said as he walked back to his spot behind her.

"Did you and Carol fight?" she asked as she brought the gun back up, her neck starting to ache again.

"What the hell difference would that make?" he asked impatiently.

"Well, when a couple fights.."

"We ain't a couple." Daryl corrected her. "Gonna shoot or what?"

Beth took aim and let the bullet fly and found herself knocked to the ground by the force of the rifle.

"You're gettin' worse!" Daryl pulled her back up to her feet. "Damn it, girl."

Beth knew she was in for a bad, bad lesson. She didn't feel up to shooting and Daryl was in a foul mood. This was not a good combination. This was gonna be long day.

* * *

Rick rounded the corner of the guard tower and saw leaning against the wall, eyes closed and a look of discomfort on her face. Karen had again claimed illness and had excused herself from watch, which left him taking over for her...spending more time with Beth.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." she nodded and soon regretting that movement. "Just slept wrong last night, then had a really bad lesson with Daryl." she rubbed her right shoulder with her left hand as she spoke.

"Here." he propped his shotgun up against the wall and moved forward. He hesitated for a moment before moving Beth's hand off her shoulder and began rubbing her neck and shoulder himself.

Beth froze, not expecting to have him quite so close, let alone actually touching her. She wished the aspirin had worked the second time she took them, but she couldn't deny the fact that Rick was quite good at giving a massage. She wanted to groan as he continued, but was able to stifle that response. She couldn't, however, stop her skin from breaking into goosebumps and feeling as though it was on fire both at the same time.

"Helping?" Rick asked as he continued.

"Mmhmmm." Beth muttered, enjoying the feeling of both the ache being eased, and the feeling of his hands on her.

Rick knew Beth was small, but he didn't realize how small until he had her in his hands. Her neck looked so small and delicate, it seemed as though the smallest bump could snap it in two. It had been over a year since he'd had much contact with a woman, and that was the only reason he could think of to explain the reaction he seemed to having to touching Beth, even if it was for an innocent reason such as trying to ease an aching neck. He noticed Beth's breathing had sped up a bit, and he'd have to be an idiot not to notice the goosebumps or the heat that was radiating off of her skin. He also couldn't deny the fact that the contact felt good. Without a though, Rick moved her hair aside and then leaned in and kissed the back of her neck.

Beth was surprised, but she couldn't force herself to pull herself away for a moment. She simply stood there and enjoyed the feeling of Rick's lips on her bare skin. When she finally regained her wits, she turned around and faced him, eyes wide, trying to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry." Rick took a step back. He should be ashamed of himself.

"It's okay." she whispered, taking a step forward, slowly standing up on her tip-toes, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

Both of their minds were racing as Rick returned the kiss. His brain kept telling him to stop, that this was Beth, Hershel's daughter, but he couldn't bring himself to listen. Beth inhaled as Rick ran his hands up her arms and ended up cradling her face in his hands. Her hands found their way to his sides, clutching his shirt as she leaned into the kiss. Their urgency was growing, both of them letting out soft moans as the kiss deepened. Rick found himself moving to press Beth against the wall as they continued, but stopped suddenly as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Tyreese and Sasha are on watch tonight." Beth tried to catch her breath. Her mind was reeling from what had just taken place.

"Hey, we're here." Sasha called out. "You can go ahead and go to bed now." she added.

Beth picked up her crossbow and walked around to the stairs, avoiding the others. She didn't know what to do, so she ran.

"Everything okay?" Tyreese asked, approaching Rick.

"It's been quiet tonight." Rick nodded, hoping that in the dark neither of the other two could see his flushed face. "Just the usual wanderers."

"Good." Sasha laughed. "I prefer the quiet nights."

"Yeah, me, too." Rick grabbed his gun. "Well, I'll leave you to it then."

"Good night." both of them replied, totally oblivious to what they had nearly walked in on.

Rick headed back inside, he wanted to kick himself. He should have kept his hands to himself, he should have just told Beth to go inside,that he'd keep watch. No, instead he had to rub her neck. Now he probably ruined a good friendship that he'd started with Beth, not to mention what Hershel and Maggie would do to him if they found out. He was a dirty old man. She was just a girl, and look how he had acted.

"Idiot." he whispered to himself. "Idiot!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Another chapter. I'm on a roll! When I'm really into a story, I just want to spend all my time writing, and I would, too, if work didn't interfere. Thanks a million to all who read, review and continue to follow this story!**

* * *

It had been two days since Rick's encounter with Beth, and those days were just as awkward as he thought they would be. He would arrive for a meal and she made sure she was busy doing something else so that she didn't have to hand him a plate or bowl. She'd switched guard shifts with Sasha so that she would be assured that the likelihood of her doing that shift with him was as slim as possible. The only thing she hadn't changed was her routine with Judith. No matter how weird things were with him, she wasn't about to let that little girl out of her sight for too long.

He couldn't help but let his mind wander back to that night. He was torn. Half of him felt ashamed and embarrassed by what had happened, yet the other half had been cursing Tyreese and Sasha for showing up when they did. He knew it was best that they did, he wouldn't have wanted to do anything stupid. He just wished that Beth would give him the chance to explain himself. If he could, that is. He wasn't entirely sure he could explain why he'd kissed her, all he knew was that he couldn't get that kiss, or Beth, out of his mind.

"That town is too picked over." Michonne's voice broke into Rick's thoughts. He suddenly remembered he was driving along with Michonne and Maggie coming back from another supply run. "We're going to have to find another one."

"The problem is is that we don't know what towns are nearby." Maggie replied as she turned in her seat to face the other woman who sat in the back. "And we can't afford to use the gas just drivin' around."

"We need to do something." Michonne argued. "We've got so many people now, we're running through supplies too fast."

"All the stuff we've found, we've yet to find a good map." Maggie turned back around and faced the road.

"We could go on foot." Michonne suggested.

"Do you have a death wish?" Maggie asked.

"A couple of people could move quickly." the other woman shrugged as she turned to look out the window at the trees whizzing by. "I'm not suggesting the whole group go."

"What do you think, Rick?" Maggie asked when she'd realized he hadn't said anything in quite a while.

"We need to find a new town." he agreed, having caught bits and pieces of their conversation. "But I'm not sure about anyone goin' off on foot."

"It's worth putting the idea forward." Michonne pointed out.

"We can always try." Rick shrugged as he turned the SUV down the road that led to the prison.

They drove in silence for a while, all of them tired from the trip and trying to think of how to find a new source of supplies. Rick slammed on the brakes when they heard a booming noise in the distance and what looked to be dirt flying high into the air in the distance.

"Did that come from the prison?" Maggie asked, her mind automatically going to the worst case scenario.

"It looks like it." Michonne nodded as she leaned forward between the two front seats.

Rick hit the gas and headed towards the prison as fast as he could make the vehicle go.

* * *

"Are you payin' any attention to what I'm sayin?" Daryl asked as Beth walked along beside him. The last couple of days she seemed a bit off. Usually chatty and bubbly, at the moment she looked lost. Not ill or anything, he thought as he looked at her. Just, distracted.

"I'm sorry." Beth said. "I didn't sleep well." she wasn't really lying. Since that night in the tower, she hadn't been sleeping well. Her mind just kept going back and she replayed that kiss over and over. A few times she found herself lying in bed, smiling and giggling at the memory. Other times she felt like an idiot. Some silly teenaged girl with a crush on an older guy. Of course, that's exactly what she was. He was the one who initiated it all. She never let herself forget that for a second. Anytime she felt stupid about having kissed him, she just reminded herself that he kissed her neck first. She suddenly started smiling to herself as she remembered the feel of his breath on her neck, how his beard tickled her skin...how soft his lips were...

"I set up some targets..." She became aware of the fact that they'd gotten to the field where they had had their last couple of lessons. She saw three targets at different ranges set up. "I wanna see how far you've come."

"Okay." she nodded, hoping he'd been so engrossed in his explanation that he hadn't noticed her going all goofy. "I can do this." she moved to the mark he'd made and aimed at the first target. She set up and after a couple of deep breaths, she fired.

"Good job!" Daryl patted her on the back, nearly knocking the slight girl over. "Next." he ordered.

Again, she set up, took aim and fired. Again she got a pat on the back, but that time she had braced herself for it. She set up and took aim for the third target that stood the furthest away. She took a deep breath and fired. She made contact and knocked the target over. Before she could receive that pat on the back or brace herself, she felt herself flying backwards a short distance, dirt rocks and grass flying through the air and landing on top of herself and Daryl who was partially covering her body with his own.

"What the hell?" she could see Daryl mouth the words as he stumbled to get to his feet. She couldn't hear anything over the ringing in her ears. She sat up and looked at the end of the field where grass used to be, a hole was very visible, bits of the target sticking out here and there. Both of them sat in stunned silence trying to figure out what had just taken place.

Rick flew through the gates as Carol and Karen opened them, kicking up a trail of dust as he went along, causing the two women to cough as they hurried to close the gates before the walkers got too close.

"What the hell was that?" he asked as he jumped out of the car.

"We don't know." Carol replied. "But I think it came from that bit of the yard that Daryl and Beth use for practice."

"Go get my dad." Maggie instructed Karen as she started to follow Rick. "We might need him if either of them is injured."

They broke through a group of Woodbury residents who stood staring at the field that had just seemingly blown up for no reason. "Get out of the way!" Maggie screamed as she shoved a gawking woman. "Beth?" she called out frantically as they continued forward.

"Daryl?" Carol called out as she caught sight of the pair sitting in the grass. "There they are." she pointed to them.

"Beth?" Maggie said as she ran to her sister's side and dropped to her knees.

"You okay?" Rick asked as he looked back and forth between the two, his focus lingering on Beth a bit longer than it had on Daryl.

"Can't hear you!" Daryl screamed.

"What?" Beth yelled.

"I wonder how many walkers this is gonna attract." Carol fretted as she helped Daryl to his feet with Rick's help.

"Let's get them inside and looked over and then we can set up some extra patrols." Rick glanced back over his shoulder and saw Maggie walking along with a visibly shaken Beth.

"Bethy?" Hershel came out to meet them quickly. He had really started to impress quite a few people with his abilities with those crutches of his.

"They don't look too bad." Rick said as he glanced at the pair again. "They can't hear anything though."

"No, not if they were too close to that damned explosion." Hershel fell into step next his girls as they headed into the prison. "What happened?" he asked, looking to Carol.

"I have no idea." she repeated as she opened the door, realizing how bad her own hands were shaking. When she heard that explosion and had seen where it the sound came from, she really did fear the worst.

"Let's get them looked over and then we can see what we can figure out." Rick suggested as he held the door open, watching them disappear inside. He took a minute to collect himself. Things had been so quiet after the showdown with the Governor, his first thought when seeing and hearing the explosion out on the road was that that sociopath had come back and was attacking the prison while he was gone. The idea that he wasn't there to protect his family, the people he'd come to care so much for, made him feel sick. As soon as Daryl and Beth were seen to, he was determined to find out just what the hell had happened.


	13. Chapter 13

Daryl lay on his bed, a pillow covering his face, his head pounding and his ears still ringing. He didn't know what happened, but when he found out who was responsible, he would kick their ass. He had thought about going out to help see if there had been any damage to the fencing, to see if they could figure out what had happened. It had been a good thought, but his head was just too much at the moment. He had never had such a headache.

"Hey." Carol whispered as he felt her sit on the edge of his bed. "I brought you some water and aspirin."

"Thanks." he groaned as he gently pulled the pillow from his face and took the bottle of water and pills. "How's the kid?" he asked.

"Beth?" Carol smiled. "She's okay. Looks a lot like you right now, head buried and being surprisingly quiet."

"Have they figured out what the hell happened?" he asked as he downed the pills and retreated back under his pillow.

"Not that I know of." she shook her head. "I'm sure Rick and Hershel are on it though."

"And Maggie." he added. "Her baby sister was out there, coulda been killed."

"Oh, Maggie is on the warpath." Carol laughed. "Whoever did it better hope she's not the first to find them."

"After hearing Hershel talk to Rick a while back, I'd be scared of that one good leg."

Carol laughed again. "I heard about that." she patted his arm and got to her feet. "I'll let you rest." she moved towards the door. "I'm glad you're okay." she added before leaving.

Daryl lifted the pillow just a bit and watched Carol walk a way and smiled to himself before retreating back into the darkness that pillow provided, still mentally cursing the bastard who'd done this to him.

* * *

"Looks like a landmine went off." Hershel said as he looked at the hole.

"Since when are there landmines here?" Glenn asked as he inspected the fence. "There are a few small holes, but all in all it held up pretty damn well."

"So now we just need to figure out what the hell happened and who did this." Rick kicked a rock into the hole.

"Daddy!" Maggie called out as she dragged two boys behind her by their hair.

"What are you doing?" Glenn asked, recognizing the boys, both about fifteen or sixteen, as some of the Woodbury refugees.

"Tell them." Maggie said as she shoved the boys to the ground. They just stared at her and then at each other. "Tell them!"

"Maggie." Hershel moved to her side. "What's goin' on, darlin'"

"We set it up." one of the boys fessed up.

"You what?" Rick glared at them. "You set up a landmine?"

"We wanted to see if we could make one, and we put it out here since it's not used much." the other boy explained.

"My daughter comes out here with one of ours for shooting practice." Hershel growled. "You damn near killed my little girl!"

"We didn't mean to hurt Barbie or Conan." the first boy blurted out.

"Barbie? Conan?" Rick asked.

"The hot blonde and the hick." the second boy looked around at the people who were now surrounding he and his buddy.

"Beth and Daryl." Rick took a deep breath. These were some of the people they'd opened their doors to?!

"What are your names?" Hershel asked. "Who do you belong to?"

"I'm Ben." the dark haired boy replied. "He's Seth." he pointed to the shorter of the two. "We don't belong to anyone. Both of our parents are dead."

"And why in the hell did you plant a landmine out here?" Glenn asked as he put an arm around Maggie's shoulder.

"We wanted to do something to help." Seth explained.

"But we wanted to make sure the landmine would work before we took the idea to you." Ben added.

"But you didn't think to mention to anyone that you put one out here." Rick pointed out. "You could have killed Beth...and Daryl."

"How did you put the landmine in without disturbing the ground?" Glenn asked.

"Used a shovel to cut out a patch of grass, dug the hole, put the landmine in, then put it all back." Ben explained. "We put it back behind the last target.."

"And if someone had moved that target back, they'd have been blown up!" Maggie wanted nothing more than to hurt both of the boys on the ground in front of her.

"We didn't think of that." Ben wished they'd never had the idea.

Hershel had been taking deep breaths, trying to control his anger. His first instinct was the same as Maggie's, to beat the living daylights out of these morons.

"Put them in one of the empty cells." Rick told Glenn. "We'll figure out what to do with them later."

"Barbie and Conan weren't hurt, were they?" Seth asked.

"Beth and Daryl are okay, aside from some nasty headaches and ringin' ears." Rick said through clenched teeth. "Get them out of here."

"Come on." Glenn pulled them both to their feet.

"Are you really gonna lock us up?" Ben asked, looking over his shoulder.

"For now it's the safest place for you, especially when Daryl finds out it was you." Glenn informed them.

* * *

Rick stood outside Beth's room and looked her curled up on her bed, her head still covered by the pillow. He had wanted to check on her, and he'd gotten as far as her door, but he didn't know if he could actually bring himself to speak to her. Not only was it awkward, but he didn't know if he could trust himself not to kiss her again. Earlier that day, he had been afraid he'd lost her. That thought had cut him to the quick and he wasn't sure how he would deal with it.

"I know you're there." Beth muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay." he cleared his throat before speaking.

"My head hurts less." she said as she sat up and clutched the pillow to her chest as she stared at the floor.

"Progress." he nodded.

"Yeah." she agreed.

Rick looked behind him and saw that Carol wasn't in her cell, and Maggie and Glenn were downstairs helping with dinner. Taking a deep breath he moved forward and leaned against the wall opposite Beth. "About the other night..." he began.

"It's fine." she felt her face turning red and resisted the urge to hide under her pillow again. That would just make it look worse.

"No, I was outta line." he insisted. "I shouldn't have forced myself on you."

"You didn't force yourself on me." she looked up at him. "I kissed you back, remember?"

"Hard not to.." he tried not to smile too much at the thought. "But I started it."

"And I was eager to join in." Beth had been embarrassed, but she didn't want him to act like it was some huge mistake that should never have happened.

"I just feel like I was takin' advantage of you." he slid down the wall so that he sat on the floor. "You're just a kid.."

"I'm not a kid!" she jumped to her feet. "I'm so sick of everyone saying that." he was regretting not only the level of her voice, but standing so quickly. "Carl is younger and no one treats him like they do me."

"I'm sorry." Rick stood up. "It's just that.."

"I'm not even a virgin anymore." she said, regretting the words as soon as they were out. "Oh, please pretend you didn't hear that." she groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Ummm, okay." Rick stared at her. He could only assume that Jimmy was who she'd been with. He suddenly found that he didn't like Jimmy as much as he once had.

"Just please, don't treat me like a child." she said as she looked up. "If you want to avoid me for the rest of your life because of what happened, I suppose I could live with that, even though I wouldn't like it, just treat me like an adult."

"I don't want to avoid you." Rick insisted. "Before this happened, I considered you a very good friend."

"You did?" she asked.

"Yeah, you were the one I could talk to about everything that was going on..about Carl and Lori..." he moved a bit closer to her. "I don't want to avoid you, and I'd like it if you wouldn't avoid me."

"I don't want to avoid you either." she smiled up at him.

"Good." he smiled in return. "And I promise not to treat you like a kid anymore."

"Thanks." she felt satisfied, at least on that front. She still felt stupid for babbling about her virginity. She hoped he would forget that bit soon enough.


	14. Chapter 14

"I like the idea of fresh produce, but all of this bending over is starting to kill my back." Carol stretched as she looked around. So many holes dug for new seeds, and so many seeds to go into them.

"You can go ahead back inside if you want." Beth informed her. "I can handle this on my own."

"It'll get done faster with two of us doing it." Carol sighed. "If I could stand hours of labor, I can plant some cucumber seeds."

Beth laughed at her as she moved to the next hole, ready to toss some broccoli seeds in.

"That hole isn't deep enough." a man's voice informed her.

Beth looked up and had to squint to try to make out who was talking to her, the sun nearly blinding her. "What?" she asked, giving up on trying to see his face for the moment.

"You need the hole to be deeper." the man knelt down and grabbed the small gardening shovel that lay tossed to the side.

Beth stared at him as he dug the holes deeper, reading each packet as he went along. She assumed he must be one of the Woodbury refugees, hence why she didn't know him. The only ones she'd gotten to know at all was Karen. And of course Ben and Seth who had been hovering all morning driving her crazy in their attempts to "help" her.

"Stupid of me." she said. "I didn't even think to read the back of the package."

"I don't know if a lot of people do." he chuckled.

"You from Woodbury?" she asked.

"Oh yeah." he wiped his right hand on his leg and held it out to her. "Ryan."

"Beth." she shook the offered hand. She watched him as he moved along, continuing to correct the holes. He was about the same height as Rick, from what she could tell, but he was more bulky, obviously either a fan of working out, or doing a lot of physical labor. She had to admit he was quite attractive. Dark brown hair and eyes and a rather soothing voice. What girl wouldn't find him attractive? "How do you know about planting? she asked.

"I grew up on a farm." he replied. "Spent most of my life on one before I left for college, and then all this started."

"What college?" Carol asked as she watched the two younger people interact.

"Florida State." he smiled. "It was fun, too."

"But then this happened." Carol looked around and wiped her brow.

"Yeah, when I first heard reports about some people getting sick, I headed back to Atlanta." he tossed a few tomato seeds into a hole and replaced the dirt. "Do you have any fertilizer?" he asked.

"We did." Beth answered. "Until certain people used it all up." she glanced to where Ben and Seth sat, watching her. "They're getting annoying." she whispered to Carol.

"They said they wanted to make up for what happened." Carol laughed.

"They're the ones who caused the explosion, right?" Ryan laughed. "Sorry, I heard you were hurt, but those guys are idiots."

"I noticed." Beth began emptying seed packets. "They meant well. They just went about trying to help in a bad way.

She got to her feet and headed for the box that held all of the seeds they'd come across on their supply runs, but before she could reach the box, Seth was there, grabbing it and holding it out to her. "What seed did you need?" he asked with a smile.

"I don't know." she shook her head. She'd been trying as hard as she could to be patient with them. Her initial anger hadn't lasted long, it never did with her. But now, they were just getting in her way,trying to do everything for her and she was about to snap.

"Watermelons." Ben fished out a packet. "Watermelon would be good." he held it out to her.

"You need to form some mounds first." Ryan was at her side,digging through the box that Seth held.

"Huh?" both boys asked at once.

"Watermelons need mounds of earth. The soil has to be loose enough for the roots to grow properly." he explained.

"Oh yeah, I knew that." Ben nodded.

Ryan laughed and grabbed a handful of packets, figuring he could leaf through them as he went.

"I'm gonna go in and check on Karen and the laundry." Carol informed Beth.

"You don't trust her to do it right, do you?" Beth laughed.

"I'm not controlling." Carol answered. "I just like things to be done in a certain way."

Beth just shook her head and laughed at her friend. "You can put the box down and go do something else." she informed the trouble-making duo.

"But we want to help you." Ben argued.

"We owe you." Seth added.

"Then why don't you go find Daryl? You almost blew him up, too." she suggested, hoping to get them away from her at least for a little while. She was almost tempted to lock them back in the cells.

"We would, but he scares us." Ben whispered, almost as though he feared Daryl was listening as he spoke.

"And you're hotter." Seth put in with a smile.

"Just stay here and try to keep out of our way, please." Beth sighed as she headed back to do her planting. She was raised to be polite, but Ben and Seth here making it really hard

* * *

"Thought you were out planting the crops, woman." Daryl said as he wandered into the kitchen, watching as Carol very politely kicked Karen out of the way of the laundry.

"Beth has plenty of help." Carol laughed. "Ben and Seth have been following her around all morning." she picked up a shirt and sighed. It wasn't nearly clean. Where had Karen learned to do laundry? "I think she's about to kill them to be honest."

"That girl wouldn't say boo to a goose." Daryl scoffed as he sat down in a nearby chair, putting his feet up on the table in front of him.

"Feet down." Carol smacked his legs. "We've discussed this." she reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." he leaned forward and started cleaning his nails out with his pocket knife.

"You guys are gonna start closing up that hole down by the showers today, right?" Carol asked as she began hanging the dripping laundry.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"There's a Woodbury boy you should take down with you." she fumbled with a clothespin, swearing a bit under her breath as it broke in two. "He's big and looks pretty strong, he'd be good to help move the stuff you need."

"I'll let Rick and Hershel know." he laughed. Hearing her swear still made him smile. It just didn't look or sound right coming from someone as soft-spoken as Carol. He felt he was having a positive effect on her.

"His name is Ryan." Carol informed him. "He's out in the field with Beth right now, helping her plant the seeds."

"Oh, he came by to help, so you ran back in here?" he teased.

"The laundry needed to be done." she pointed out.

"I thought what's-her-face was doin' the wash." he nodded towards Karen who had come back in for a drink.

"She wasn't doing it quite right." Carol whispered to him as she leaned over to grab a few more clothespins.

"Not doin' it your way, you mean." he smiled as she moved away. He didn't know how she did it considering their current surroundings, but she always smelled nice.

"Don't you need to go down and help fill in that hole?" she asked.

"That could be taken a couple different ways, woman." he winked as he got up and headed for the door.

"Get out!" she tossed a pin at him as he left.

* * *

Rick shielded his eyes from the bright sun trying to figure out where Beth was. Daryl had told him there was someone out there with her that could be useful doing the wall, and considering how many bricks and such they had to move, they needed all the muscle they could get.

"You seen Beth?" he asked Ben as he walked up behind the boy, causing him to jump.

"She went for a walk with Mr. Wonderful." Ben replied, pouting a bit.

"Mr. Wonderful?" Rick asked, slightly confused.

"Ryan." Ben clarified. "They headed off towards the guard tower over there."

"Thanks." he said. "Where's your buddy?" he asked before he left, wanting to make sure they weren't about to do anything else that was monumentally stupid.

"He went to take a leak."

"Thanks." Rick made a face and headed off to find this Ryan boy. "Mr. Wonderful"? Who the hell was this boy that Beth had gone off with? He heard laughter as he approached the tower and walked around the corner to see the pair, their heads together and laughing like hyenas. He had to admit that even he thought this boy, well a young man really, Rick guessed him to be in his early twenties, was good looking. Where did he come from? If he was so wonderful, why hadn't he come to their attention sooner?

"Oh, hey, Rick." Beth waved with a smile. "This is Ryan." she introduced the two men.

"Nice to meet you." Ryan held his hand out.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." Rick shook the younger man's hand, squeezing more than was actually necessary. "I don't suppose I could steal you away from Beth here for a bit?"

"What do you need?" Ryan asked, curious what kind of job they'd ask him to do. He was a newbie after all.

"We're moving some stuff down to the area by the showers, we need to repair a wall where some walkers were getting in." Rick explained, his eyes moving over to Beth, seeing her eye Ryan. "If you're not too busy that is."

"No problem." Ryan smiled. "I'll catch you later, Beth."

"See ya." she smiled. "Need me to do anything?" she asked Rick as he turned to leave.

"Nope, nothing right now." he shook his head. "You might wanna get back inside though, you're burning like crazy." he gestured to her bare shoulders, already turning a bright pink from her time in the sun.

"Good idea." she laughed. "He's a nice guy." she said as she walked along beside him as they headed back inside.

"I'll take your word for it." he watched Ryan ahead of them disappearing into the prison. "I just met him, can't decide quite yet." He felt he was lying. An irrational part of him already had formed a dislike for Mr. Wonderful.

"You'll like him a lot." she promised him. "He reminds me a little bit of you."

"Is that so?" he asked. "Well, I guess we'll see." he opened the door for her and watched her disappear inside. He would have to give Ryan a fair chance. He couldn't take a dislike to the boy just because he had spent some time with Beth after all.


	15. Chapter 15

**Just a quick chapter for now, since I didn't get the chance to do one yesterday. I will be working on another, longer chapter today. Enjoy!**

* * *

"She's hangin' out with that Ryan boy again?" Daryl asked as he took a seat across from Carol.

"They've been spending a lot of time together." she nodded as she watched Daryl eye Ryan closely. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"Just think she needs to be careful who she spends time with, that's all." he shrugged as he turned his attention to Carol.

"You're not jealous, are you?" she asked, feeling a pang of jealousy herself even as she asked him.

"Hell no, woman!" he stared at her in surprise.

"Well, the way you're glaring at him, I don't think it's too farfetched to think that." she shrugged and poked around at her food.

"It's just that she's not such a bad kid is all." he turned his attention to his own food.

"I see." she watched him as he quickly shoveled food into his mouth.

"She's kinda like a kid sister." he explained. "I'm as likely to see her as real woman as her daddy."

"Well, Daryl Dixon, you old softy you." Carol laughed softly as she teased him.

"Don't ever say that again!" he pointed his fork at her. "At least not so as anyone can hear ya."

"My word." she smiled as she began to eat, her appetite growing once more. "I do think it's good that she's spending time with someone her own age though."

"If you say so." he grumbled. "I think I should get to know him, too."

"Don't do anything stupid, Daryl!" Carol insisted. "He's a nice boy, don't go acting all super protective and scare him off."

Daryl just shrugged, gave her a quick look and then went back to eating without saying a word. If he happened to run into Ryan and the topic of Beth came up, it would all be innocent enough. It's not as though he'd kill the boy.

* * *

Ryan headed to the cell he shared with another of the Woodbury refugees to grab some clean clothes. They finally had the showers up and running and he was eager to have his turn under the water.

"Where you headin'?" he recognized the voice and new it was the one Ben and Seth still referred to as Conan. He thought it rather fitting since there was something a bit barbaric about the man, a bit rough. He had to admit that he did have a lot of respect for him though. How could one not have respect for Daryl Dixon?

"Down to the showers." Ryan replied, grabbing the shabby towel that he'd been given. "Is there something you need?" he asked, not being able to think of a single reason why Dixon would be there talking to him.

"Just wanted to have a little talk." Daryl leaned against the bars, blocking Ryan's exit.

"About?" he'd never had a reason to fear the man, but that was starting to change.

"You've been spendin' a lot of time with Beth." Daryl began his explanation.

"Yeah." Ryan nodded. "You two aren't a couple, are you?" it seemed like Beth might have mentioned that.

"No, nothin' like that." Daryl shook his head. "But, she is a good kid, like a kid sister to me, actually."

"Okay." Ryan didn't like the tone that Daryl's voice.

"Which means she's family to me." Daryl stepped forward. "And I am very protective of my family. Know what I mean?"

"Yes." Ryan nodded, his mouth going dry, the older man was starting to really scare him.

"Do anything to hurt that little girl, I hurt you." Daryl whispered before turning and leaving the room, Ryan staring wide-eyed swallowed hard. He collapsed onto his bed, thankful that was over with.


	16. Chapter 16

The small garden that Beth and Carol had started was coming along nicely, and since everyone was going to benefit from its existence, everyone had to pitch in to keep it weed-free and watered. He had started out with three helpers, Ben, Seth and _Ryan. _He had quickly dismissed the trio, Seth and Ben having gotten on his last nerve, and he couldn't bring himself to be around Ryan for more than a few minutes without wanting to punch him. He knew it was wrong to want to cause physical pain for the boy, but he couldn't help it when Ryan would inevitably bring Beth up. Did he have to flaunt it?

"I thought you had helpers."

Rick turned and saw Beth herself approaching, a thermos in one hand and a towel in the other. "They're around." he shrugged as he got to his feet and wiped the dirt from his hands.

"But not helpin'." she pointed out as she handed the thermos to him. "Thought you might need something to drink." she said as she waited for him to finish drinking before handing the towel to him so he could wipe the sweat from his face and neck.

"They try to help, but it's quicker to do it on my own." he shrugged as he unbuttoned his long-sleeved shirt. "I swear it must be about eighty degrees out here."

"It is getting warmer." Beth mumbled as she watched him remove his shirt, going down to his undershirt. "Summer's almost here."

"Gonna be bad inside." Rick tried to make conversation. He didn't know why things were weird between them at the moment. He'd thought they'd worked out the awkwardness a couple of weeks back.

"Yeah, it is." she nodded as she looked around, trying not to focus on him as he went back to work. "You know, Ryan's pretty good with this stuff." she said as she watched Rick continue pulling weeds. "He grew up on a farm."

"That's nice." Rick started pulling weeds in a frenzy. "Good that you two have so much in common."

"Why is that good?" Beth was confused.

"Couples should have something in common." he moved to the next row.

"Couples?" she burst into laughter. "Ryan and I aren't a couple." she doubled over and continued to laugh.

"Why is that so funny?" he asked as he watched her face turn red, eyes start watering as she straightened up.

"You're really askin'?" she stared at him.

"Obviously." he was totally lost.

"Ryan is gay." she explained with a smile.

"Gay?" Rick asked, feeling rather relieved at that news.

"He has a thing for Glenn." she laughed.

"Oh, that's good I guess." he smiled a bit.

"You think so?" she watched him as he continued to pull weeds, much more carefully now.

"Yeah, he's open about it..."

"You were jealous!" she laughed, looking rather triumphant.

"I never said that." Rick turned his back to her as he spoke.

"You didn't have to." she lowered her voice. "You didn't like Ryan because you thought he and I were an item."

"I never said that either." he pointed out.

"You didn't have to." she repeated as she started to follow him around.

"Don't you have something to do inside?" he asked. She was making him uncomfortable.

"Nope." she shook her head and smiled.

"No laundry, no cookin'?" he looked back at her. "No watch duty?"

"I can't believe you're tryin' to get rid of me." she playfully punched him in the back.

"I have work to do." he pointed out, wanting so badly for the embarrassment to be over with, yet not wanting her to leave just yet.

"Well, that's the last weed." she said as she walked around, inspecting his work. "So now you just need to water them."

"Yes, master." he smiled as he began the task of watering their small plot of crops, completely aware of Beth's eyes on him the whole time.

Beth tried not to smile as she watched him work. She honestly had not been aware until that day that Rick had been jealous of Ryan. She had been spending time with the younger man, finding it to be nice to have someone closer to her own age she could talk to about everything. Someone she wasn't either related to, or infatuated with. She had listened to Ryan explain how he was finding it hard to fit in, afraid that some people might have a problem with his being gay, how upsetting he found it that Glenn was spoken for. She, in return, had spoken to him about how it was for her to look after Judith, and, once she'd trusted him more, she told him about Rick. It felt good to talk about with someone who she didn't fear overreacting about the whole situation.

She couldn't deny that the thought of Rick being jealous made her happy. She'd heard Karen make a few comments about Rick and felt that pang of jealousy, but hadn't said anything. She didn't have the right to. Although she and Rick had spoken about not letting that kiss ruin their friendship, they hadn't discussed what it had really meant to either of them.

"You still here?" Rick asked as he walked up, waving his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Beth."

She felt like an idiot as she realized that she had totally zoned out. "Sorry." she blushed.

"You okay?" he asked.

Beth looked around, and realizing they were alone, she grabbed Rick by the hand and headed off to a small shed that had housed some garden equipment once used to maintain the prison's grounds.

"Beth.." he stumbled along behind her. "What are you doing?" he asked as she closed the door behind her.

Without a word, and really without a thought, Beth closed the distance between herself and Rick, stood on her tip-toes and kissed him.


	17. Chapter 17

Rick was a little surprised at first, Beth wasn't the aggressive type, but he was more than willing to go with it. He leaned into the kiss and their hands roamed all over one another's bodies. They fumbled backward, Beth finding herself being backed up against the wall.

"Ouch!" Beth broke off the kiss and hissed as a couple of rakes fell off the wall when she was pressed up against them.

"Sorry, sorry." Rick apologized, grabbing the rakes and putting them back in place. "We keep being interrupted." he laughed as he untangled the last rake from her hair.

"I preferred when Tyreese and Sasha showed up." she gave up trying to get her hair free since she couldn't see what she was doing. "Less painful."

"I think it's a good these things keep happening." he sighed as the last bit of hair was freed, taking a step back.

"You do?" Beth asked, not being able to help but feeling hurt when she heard those words.

"Don't get me wrong." he was quick to reassure her. "I like. Hell, to if I'm being totally honest, I'm crazy about you."

Beth smiled, her feelings not so hurt, but she knew there was a 'but' coming up.

"But I don't think it'd be a good idea for anything to happen..."

"Oh." she whispered. "I understand."

"No, no you don't." Rick reached out and grabbed her shoulders. "I just think that if we do decide to see where this goes...we need to take things really slow."

"Makes sense." she was starting to feel like she was on a roller coaster.

"Things are so complicated." Rick went on after studying her expression for a minute. "Between all of this goin' on...and Carl's always been sweet on you.."

"I never thought about Carl." she felt guilty as soon as she said the words. Between Carl's crush on her and the fact that she was barely older than him, she could see how he might not like what was happening.

"And then there's your dad." Rick let his hands slide from her shoulders, down her arms and then he took a step back again.

"He wouldn't stop me from bein' happy." she argued, feeling that while Hershel was protective, he truly would not interfere with something that made her happy.

"No, but he might not like this, still."

"He's okay with Maggie and Glenn." she pointed out. "Even gave Glenn permission to marry Maggie." While she was happy for her sister, she couldn't help but feel that an engagement was rather silly and pointless. Of course, she would never say that out loud.

"Maggie isn't his baby." Rick pointed out to her.

"I'm not a baby anymore." even as she said it, she cringed at the sound of her voice as she spoke. She sounded like a baby sometimes, when she felt she wasn't getting her way.

"We just need to be careful, not get carried away." Rick took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman, and he hadn't even really thought about it until that night in the tower. He had been a bit preoccupied after all, trying to keep everyone alive.

"So, are you saying we need to stay away from each other?" she asked, wanting to know exactly where she stood.

"No!" he nearly shouted. "No. I just mean, take things slow..and be discreet."

"Oh." Beth couldn't help but smile. She couldn't deny that she wanted to have sex with him, but she felt more for him than just physical desire. "I'm just glad to hear that you don't want to avoid me."

"No, I think that would just cause more problems." Rick smiled.

"So, if we're alone, then I can come up just give you a quick kiss?" she asked as she moved forward.

"I suppose so." he replied as he watched her move to him, slipping his hands around her waist. "As long as we're careful not to go too far."

"I can try." she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"This is gonna be hard." he groaned as he pulled her to him and kissed her.

* * *

Beth turned on the water in the shower, waiting for just a moment for the water to heat up before she stepped under it. All day, she fought the urge to smile like an idiot. She had wanted to tell Maggie about her talk with Rick, but decided against it. While Maggie had her relationship with Glenn, she didn't know if she could trust her sister not to overreact to the idea of Beth having one of her own.

"I left your clothes on the bench out here." Maggie poked her head around the corner. "Here's your towel." she hung it on the hook by the shower exit.

"Thanks." Beth smiled as she allowed the water to flow over her body.

Maggie looked at her sister for a moment before shaking her head and walking off. The girl seemed to have her head firmly in the clouds for some reason, even more than usual.

Beth enjoyed the feeling of the warm water and was thankful to all of the people who'd cleared the area and made it safe for them use the shower room again. She'd been yearning for a nice, hot bath, but she wasn't picky. A nice hot shower would suffice. At least she was clean. She didn't know how dirty she was until the first shower she'd taken at the prison. She felt a bit ill at the site of the dirty water running off her body. And to think, she'd thought herself clean before that. She shuddered at the thought.

She paused as she rinsed her hair. A slight shuffling noise alerted her to the presence of someone else. As far as she knew, she was the last one to take a shower.

"Maggie?" she called out. She didn't hear anything other than the shuffling sound continuing. "Who's there?" she called as she turned off the water and headed for her towel.

She peeked around the corner of the wall that separated the showers from a small locker room, expecting to see one of the younger Woodbury boys at least. The room appeared to be empty, and she was starting wish Maggie had waited for her. Grabbing her clothes from the bench, she started to quickly dress. As she pulled her shirt over her head, she froze when she heard the shuffling again, and an all to familiar sound of heavy breathing. She cursed herself for not having any weapons on her. But, she was inside the prison, in an area that had been secured. Why should she need something to protect herself?

Taking a deep breath, she slowly and quietly made her way to the exit of the shower room. As she let the door close behind her, she saw a walker making his way towards her. She was shaking so hard it was making it hard to walk, eager to get back to the others and safety. They must have missed an opening and some stragglers had found their way in. She moved as quietly as she could, hearing more sounds of shuffling feet as she moved along past a wheelbarrow that had a few bricks left in it. She saw a shovel propped against the end of the end of the wheelbarrow and grabbed it. She hoped she wouldn't need it, but better safe than sorry. She started moving faster and could make out the door that led back to the main part of the prison. She picked up her pace and was so close to the exit when, seemingly out of nowhere, a walker stepped out and blocked her path. Swinging the shovel with every ounce of strength she had, she caught the walker in the neck, sending it to the ground with a thud. She stood over it and brought the shovel down as hard as she could, severing its head.

She felt sick at sight and smell of the thing before her and after she fought the urge to be sick. Steadying herself, she made for the door once again, hearing more shuffling behind her. Looking back, three walkers filled the passage. She flung open the door and and quickly shut it behind her, using the handle of the shovel to bar it. She ran as fast as she could and burst into what had been the visit room, seeing Daryl and Carol sitting at a table in the corner,she ran up to them, trying to catch her breath.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Daryl asked as he got to his feet, forcing her to sit down.

"Walkers." she muttered, shaking. "Down in the showers...walkers." she fought to catch her breath.

"I thought that was all blocked up." Carol moved to put her arm around the girl.

"It's supposed to be." he replied as he headed off, whispered to Glenn who got to his feet and the pair headed off.

"Are you okay?" Carol asked.

"I got one of them." Beth nodded as she watched Glenn and Daryl move around the room, seeming to gather a group. "I think I'm gonna be sick." she said as she held her stomach and leaned forward fighting the urge to actually be physically ill.


	18. Chapter 18

Beth looked down at Judith as she slept and couldn't help but be thankful the little girl was safe. The incident down in the showers still had her trembling a bit. She had never experienced being alone around walkers, having only herself to keep her safe. She was proud of herself, but she still felt a bit ill and breathless.

"Beth, are you okay?" Rick suddenly appeared at her door, blood splattered all over the front of his shirt and pants, bits of skin and brain matter sticking to his skin in places.

"Yeah, I'm okay." she nodded. "You were down in the showers?" she asked as she looked him over head to toe.

"There are a lot of them down there." he nodded. He had wanted to hug her, seeing that she still looked shaken, but resisted the urge to do so considering the state of his clothes. "We don't know how they got in."

"Did you guys clear 'em out?" she asked nervously.

"No." he shook his head. "And there's a lot more where they came from."

"What are we gonna do?" she asked, fearing the safe haven they'd created would be destroyed.

"They're comin' in pretty fast." he informed her. "What I need you to do is get Judith and Carl and get out of here." he couldn't think of any other way to tell her.

"You're not serious." she stared at him and could tell that he was very serious indeed. "I can't leave you and my daddy..Maggie!"

"Maggie's gonna be with you, so is Glenn." he grabbed her shoulders, seeing that she was panicking a bit at the thought of leaving them. "Daryl said he'd found a cabin while out hunting and patrolling, he's drawn a map, so you're gonna head there."

"What about the others?" she argued. "There are kids in the Woodbury group..."

"Carl, Judith and you are my priority." he cut her off, not in the mood to argue. "I'll keep them safe as best I can, but you three need to get out of here so I know you're all safe."

"So, you'll meet up with us?" she asked, scared that she might never see some of the people she'd come to care so much for again.

"Yes." he gave her a half-hearted smile. He hoped he could keep that promise. "I just need to know you all are safe, I can't do what I need to here and be worrying about you."

"I can fight." she pleaded.

"So can Carl, but I don't want you to." he grabbed a bag that hung on the end of the bunk bed. "I want you and Carl to go with Judith...Glenn and Maggie will keep you safe." he held the bag out to her. "Please pack up what you're gonna need."

"Fine." she said softly as she took the bag, deciding it wouldn't do any good to argue anymore.

"Thank you." he stroked her cheek and gave her a smile before turning and leaving.

* * *

"Daddy, I think it's best if you come with us." Maggie insisted as she followed Hershel around.

"I'm stayin' here." he repeated. "You and Glenn will keep Beth and the kids safe."

"But this isn't really the best place for you right now." she sighed, worrying about what might happen to him if they were overrun by walkers.

"Maggie, he'll be fine." Glenn tried to reassure her.

"What's goin' on?" Beth said as she approached, her crossbow across her back and Judith strapped snuggly across her chest.

"Daddy's stayin' here." Maggie informed her. "I say it's not a good idea."

"Because I'm a one-legged old man?" he asked, knowing full well that was her problem.

"I didn't say that..."

"Well, I don't think you should be out fighting on the account that you're a woman." he said bluntly.

"Daddy!" she was shocked that he would say such a thing.

"Doesn't feel good when people say you're incompetent based on something you have no control over, does it?" he knew he'd made his point. "I know I don't have to say this, but I want you all to be careful." he looked to Glenn "I'm depending on you to keep my girls safe."

"I promise." Glenn nodded and Hershel knew full well that the younger man would do anything to keep them safe.

"I don't wanna go!" Carl called out as Rick ushered him over to Glenn's group.

"I didn't ask you." Rick countered. "You got the map and all you're gonna need?" he asked.

"Everything's here." Glenn held up his backpack.

"Isn't anyone gonna ask why we're leaving and no one else is?" Beth asked, bouncing slightly as Judith began to fidget.

"It does look a little weird." Maggie stroked the baby's hair.

"We're gonna talk to them about the breach, you take that opportunity to head out." Hershel said.

"Say you're going to patrol." Rick added.

"With a baby strapped to her?" Glenn asked.

"Judith's been fussing and she's only calm when she's with Beth." Carl suggested.

"Exactly." Rick patted his boy on the back.

"Let's get going then." Glenn said.

Rick and Hershel headed to talk to the gathered group. "Everyone!" Rick called out to get their attention. "Listen up. We're going to have to restrict everyone to this part of the prison."

He let everyone grumble and complain before going on explaining all that was happening. Leaving out the part about the fact that he and Hershel were sending their respective families off for safety's sake.

Glenn and the others watched as the two men started addressing the assembled group and quietly slipped out the side door, heading for the SUV.

"How long do you think it'll be before we know it's okay to come back?" Beth asked, glancing back at the prison as she carefully crawled into the backseat next to Carl.

"Hopefully in the next day or two." Maggie couldn't help but worry about their father. She felt as if she should stay and help them, but knew that she needed to be with her sister.

"They'll be okay." Glenn said as he looked around at the others before putting the car in gear and heading out.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Sorry it's taken so long for an update, and it's only a short one. I think I've got my mojo back, so hopefully I can get back on track with my stories!**

* * *

Glenn glanced at the map that Daryl had drawn out for them and kept a close eye out for the turnoff that was marked. "It should be coming up soon." he said, glancing into the rear view mirror at Carl and Judith. He felt a lot of pressure knowing that Rick had trusted his children to him for safekeeping.

"It'll be okay." Maggie said as she rested her hand on top of his, seeming to sense his uneasiness.

"Yeah." he smiled and took a deep breath as he spotted the turnoff. "Great time for it to start raining." he grumbled as fat raindrops started dropping onto the windshield.

"Hopefully we make it to the cabin before it gets too bad." Beth said as she bounced Judith on her knee, trying to keep the baby distracted and happy.

"It shouldn't be too much further." Maggie glanced back at her kid sister and gave her a smile. She'd always known that Beth would make a good mother, she just had that nurturing quality about her. She had just assumed it would be Beth's own children that would benefit from Beth's affection. However, in their current environment, Maggie didn't think that would ever happen.

"Why are you staring at me?" Beth asked, feeling even more uncomfortable than she had been when they'd left the prison.

"No reason." Maggie smiled and turned her attention to the track before them as the rain suddenly picked up and beat down on the car with enough force that made her think the windshield was about to give way.

"Damn it." Glenn hissed as he slowed down a bit, finding it hard to see as the rain increased. Daryl had said to watch out for a tree that he'd marked with some white paint, but with the rain coming down in sheets, that was becoming harder and harder to do. "Can anyone see the marked tree?" he asked.

"Can't see anything." Carl said as he peered out his window, his head hitting the glass as the car lurched to a sudden stop.

"What in the hell?" Maggie asked as she braced herself in an attempt from hitting the dash.

"I think we hit a pothole." Glenn groaned as he gave the car gas and soon realized that they were stuck. "Of course." he turned off the car and started to open the door.

"What are you doing?" Carl asked.

"I'm gonna see how stuck we are."

"Let's wait for the rain to let up." Maggie suggested.

"And in that time more and more water will fill the hole." Glenn replied.

He walked over to the front passenger side tire and saw that half of the tire had sunk into a large hole, mud splattered up the entire side of the car from his attempt at getting out. "Damn it!" he hissed as he kicked the car.

"Well?" Maggie asked as she rolled her window down.

"It's deep." he wiped the rain from his face with his soaked sleeve. "We can try pushing I guess."

"I'll help." Beth and Carl both piped up from the back.

"One of you hop behind the wheel and give it some gas while Maggie and I push." Glenn instructed them before shutting the door behind Maggie.

"I'll do it." Carl crawled between the two front seats and adjusted the driver's seat so he could reach.

Beth held Judith close as the baby started to whimper a bit. "Shhh, sweetie." she whispered. "Uncle Glenn and Aunt Maggie will have us out of here soon." she cooed. She heard a tap on the back window and realized Glenn was signaling Carl to give it gas. "Go." she instructed him.

Carl gave it a bit of gas as the car rocked back and forth, Glenn and Maggie becoming covered in muddy water and chunks of mud.

Glenn watched the tire as they pushed and could see they seemed to be making some progress. He knew he had to hurry up and get them out of there and to the cabin before any walkers showed up.

"Well?" Maggie asked as she let the car roll back one more time.

"Keep going!" Glenn yelled as they both shoved one more time, the car's tire finally making it up and out of the hole sending both Maggie and Glenn crashing to the ground as their hands slipped off the moving car.

"Damn it." Maggie groaned as they got their feet.

"At least we'll get cleaned off fast." Glenn couldn't help but laugh at the site of Maggie covered in mud head-to-toe.

His laughter came to an abrupt halt when a shot rang out, followed by the sound of shattering glass. They looked to the car and could see flecks of red clinging to the windows and Judith's cries filled their ears.


	20. Chapter 20

Beth stared at Carl's still form in disbelief. He lay sprawled across the front seat, blood pooling beneath him on the passenger seat. She watched carefully to see if she could find any any movement, any sound coming from him that would tell her that he was still alive. She was barely aware of Judith's wailing as she continued to stare at Carl's seemingly lifeless form in front of her.

"Shh." she whispered as she forced her gaze from Carl to the little girl who clung to her. "It'll be okay." she said as she started to cry, wrapping her arms around the trembling baby. Glancing out the back window, she saw Maggie and Glenn racing towards the stopped car. She had to get out of the car, the sight of Carl and the smell of his blood was making her sick. As she reached out for the door handle, more shots rang out, and instinctively she ducked down. She carefully put Judith down on the floor and reached for her crossbow and put her window down a bit, trying her hardest to see if she could make out where the shots were being fired from.

"Beth!" Maggie cried as she ran as fast as her feet could carry her to the car, slipping in the mud as she tried to stop as more shots were fired.

Beth peered over the top of the door where the window had been broken and was able to just catch a quick glimpse of someone moving from the cover of one tree to the next. She took the chance, steadied her crossbow and let her arrow fly, downing the man just short of his new hiding spot.

Glenn saw a man fall and grabbed Maggie's arm and hauled her to her feet and into the trees on the opposite side of the quickly flooding trail.

"We have to help her!" Maggie cried as she wiped mud from her face.

"I know." Glenn was panting, fear and the exertion of moving the car sapping his energy.

"Beth is alive." she said softly as she followed his lead. "I saw the arrow. Carl doesn't use the crossbow."

"Doesn't mean good things for Carl." Glenn replied nervously as they drew in line with the rear door of the car. "Beth!" he called out, hoping to get her attention.

Beth watched carefully but couldn't see any more movement at the moment. She glanced once more at Carl, realizing with a sinking feeling that, through all of this, he had not moved an inch. She reached over to try to check his pulse and swallowed her tears when she realized there was no pulse. "Oh, God!" she whimpered.

"Beth!" Glenn called out again, finally getting her attention. She looked back at him and shook her head. "Damn it!" he slumped against the nearest tree.

"Get out of there, Beth!" Maggie urged her sister.

Steadying herself, Beth grabbed Judith and slowly inched her away backwards to the opposite door. Just as she reached for the handle, more shots were fired.

"Get out, now!" Maggie screamed as she ran forward, flinging the door open and grabbing Beth by the door. Beth tried to reach back for something, but Maggie pulled her towards the trees before she could reach it.

"He's dead." Beth held Judith close to her, rocking back and forth. "Carl is dead."

"No, no, no!" Glenn felt sick. He looked back at the car from his crouched position behind the trees and made a decision. "I'm gonna get him out of there."

"Glenn, you'll get shot!" Maggie argued.

"Rick should be able to bury his son." Glenn stared at her. "He's lost his wife, now his son...he should be able to say goodbye and bury him."

Maggie glanced at Beth and saw that the frightened girl was continuing to rock back and forth, clutching the small child to her chest. "Give me that." she said softly as she gently took the crossbow from her nearly catatonic sister. "I'll try to cover you." she decided.

Glenn moved ahead of Maggie and listened carefully for any sound that would indicate that the shooters were still there. The growing intensity of the rain made his task impossible as it drowned out all other sounds. Hoping for the best and intent on retrieving Carl's body, he moved forward slowly and carefully. He was mere twenty feet away when more shots rang out, riddling the car and forcing Glenn to the ground to try to dodge any bullets that might make their way through the besieged vehicle. It was from his spot on the ground that he could see one bullet penetrate the gas tank. With barely a moment to spare, he was able to move back as more bullets hit the car, the sparks of metal on metal igniting the fuel tank which sent the car upwards in a fiery ball.

Glenn dove into the trees, covering Maggie with his own body as bits of glass and metal started to rain down on them.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked, seeing blood mixing with rain as they sat up and stared at the wreckage.

"We've gotta get out of here." the ringing in his ears making it almost impossible to hear her question. His legs felt like rubber as he stood up, helping Maggie to her feet.

"I've got Daryl's map." Beth said as she stepped forward, finally able to speak again. "Come on." she started herding the pair along, deeper into the woods and away from the path, trying her best to sooth the wailing baby before they found themselves surrounded by walkers and whoever had just ambushed them. With one last look behind her, she moved on. Her heart broke for the friend that she'd lost and the one she knew the entire group was about to lose for a second time.


	21. Chapter 21

The old school bus lumbered along the deeply rutted path through the woods, those who made it out of the prison clutching onto anything they could as Hershel navigated them as best as he could. The torrential rains the day before had ended just a few hours before, as they were all grabbing what few things they could as they fled. No one knew how the walkers had breached their defenses, but they had and the group had lost the prison.

Rick looked around at those who had survived the unexpected onslaught from the walkers and he cringed. They'd had good numbers just 24 hours ago, and now only a handful of them had made it out on the bus. Only a few people from Woodville had managed to make it out. Rick felt guilty at the fact that he was happy that his group had come out with all of their people still intact. No casualties among them, not even any serious injuries. He got to his feet and steadied himself as he walked down the aisle to look out the backdoor at Daryl deftly avoiding the large potholes and giving him a quick wave.

He wasn't thrilled having the motorcycle, it's loud engine and lack of storage made it pretty useless in Rick's opinion, but Daryl would not hear of losing the bike, and Rick needed Daryl more than he wanted to see the bike gone, so he just kept quiet about it. He knew he had to pick his battles, and that was one that never even needed to begin. A sudden jolt as the bus bounced out of a large pot hole nearly took Rick's feet from under him, sending him tumbling into Carol.

"Watch it." she said as she put her hands up, not only to steady him, but to help keep his weight from coming down onto her.

"Sorry." he mumbled. "You look tired."

"Same goes for you." she smiled. "That was a long night. I just wish we could have made it out with more of us." she looked around.

"Me, too." he sighed as he took a seat next to her. "I hope the others got to the cabin safely."

"You're not the only one." Carol glanced out of the small window and wished to herself that they could somehow go back in time.

"Rick!" Hershel called out as he slowed the bus down.

"What is it?" Rick asked as he saw Daryl suddenly pass the bus and go on ahead.

"It isn't good." Hershel stopped and flung the hydraulic door open, hobbling down the steps.

Rick got to his feet and looked in horror at the sight before him. The remains of the SUV that Glenn had been driving sat to the side of the path, still smoldering. "No, no!" he screamed as he ran.

"What in the hell happened?" Hershel tried to get close to see if he could make out if anyone was still inside, hoping against hope that it was empty.

"Get back." Daryl snapped. "Damn things still got some flames goin'." he nodded to a spot where the hood once was. "Don't know exactly what happened, but your girl got one of 'em." he said as he pulled a bolt that he recognized as one of Beth's from a stocky man who lay in between two trees.

Rick couldn't speak. He just stood there staring at the wreckage, trying to keep from bursting into tears. "We'll get to the cabin." he finally muttered. "They must be there."

"Yeah." Hershel nodded in agreement. "Those kids got away."

Daryl looked back and forth at the two men as he placed Beth's bolt with his own. He knew that each of them had damn good reason to be hoping for the best, but looking around at the bullet holes in the trees, and the smoldering wreckage, he had his doubts as to whether or not they'd find anything good at the cabin. "Let's get goin' then." he said as he headed back to his bike. "We just need to keep an eye out for whoever did this."

Hershel and Rick walked slowly, numbly, back to the bus, neither of them saying a word. Both of them had children in that car and they couldn't stand the thought that any of them had been lost in that fire.

"I'll drive." Carol said as she moved aside for the two men to climb back on.

"They'll be okay." Hershel mumbled as he took a seat next to Rick. "They're all strong and smart...they're okay."

"Yeah." Rick replied, his voice hoarse from unshed tears of fear and panic.

* * *

Glenn looked out of the cabin window, pulling the old faded curtain aside just a bit, hoping that he'd see the others coming soon. He had no idea how he was going to break the news to Rick. How does someone tell another person that their child is dead? Would Rick feel better knowing that Carl never suffered any pain? He didn't think it would make him feel that much better. Dead was still dead.

"She needs to eat." Beth whispered as she bounced Judith, hoping to stop the little one from crying.

"We didn't get a chance to get any supplies." Maggie sighed as she stroked the little girl's hair.

"I tried grabbing her bag, when you pulled me out." Beth informed her sister.

"That's what you were..." Maggie groaned. "Damn it!"

"Hopefully they'll be here soon." Glenn left his spot by the window and sat down at the worn, wooden table where Maggie and Beth were huddled.

"What if they don't come?" Beth asked, saying out loud what all of them had been fearing since they set out the day before.

"They will." Maggie insisted.

"Rick will show up and we tell him..." Beth choked back tears and held Judith a little closer.

Glenn got to his feet and headed back to the window, not wanting to wait to see if Beth was going to finish her thought.

"It wasn't your fault." Maggie stepped up behind and wrapped her arms around him. "There was nothing any of us could have done."

"It doesn't feel that way." Glenn took a deep breath, feeling Maggie rest her head on his back. "He trusted me with his kids, your dad trusted me with you and Beth, and look what happened!"

"We didn't know those guys were going to be there." she insisted. "Daryl never knew about them, none of us knew."

"That's not gonna make it any easier to tell Rick." he turned around to face her. "Look what happened when Lori died. That's gonna happen again."

"We don't know that!"

"Sure, losing your wife, that's one thing, but your only son, that's no big deal!" he moved away from her.

"I hear something." Beth said as she adjusted Judith's weight to her other hip and moved closer to the window.

"What?" Maggie asked, straining to hear. "I don't hear anything." she looked to Glenn who shook his head.

"It sounds like Daryl's bike!" she slowly pulled the curtain back. "It's him!" she said, relief evident in her voice as she moved to the door.

"Anyone in there?" Daryl killed the engine of his bike and called out.

"Daryl!" Beth ran out and gave him a hug.

"What the hell happened out there?" he asked as he quickly and rather uncomfortably returned the hug. "Rick and your daddy aren't far behind."

"We were ambushed." Glenn spoke up. "Bullet hit the gas tank."

"Where's the boy?" Daryl looked around and noticed they were short one.

No one said anything, none of them wanting to be the one to utter the words. Daryl understood and there was no need for them to say anything. "Shit." he hissed as he turned to see the bus rumbling its way towards them.

"Bethy! Maggie!" Hershel hurled himself off the bus and ran as fast as his one good leg and crutch could handle. "My girls." he hugged both of the young women close to him, not wanting to let go.

"Daddy, the baby." Beth squirmed a bit, making sure Judith was getting some air.

"Oh, of course." he laughed as he looked back and forth at his girls. "Sorry."

"Glad to see you all are okay." Rick said nervously as he took the baby that Beth held out to him, giving Beth a fond smile. "Where's Carl?" he asked.

They looked each looked at one another as if urging one of the group to say something. Who would want to break that news to a father?

"Where's Carl?" he asked again, dread filling him as he clung to Judith as if she would give him strength to face what he knew was coming. "Carl!" he called out.

"Rick, no..." Glenn stepped up. "Rick, I'm sorry..."

"Where's Carl?" he repeated.

"We were ambushed." Beth whispered.

"He was just injured, right?" he asked as he felt his legs become weak.

"It was quick..." Beth said the only thing she could think of. She knew it'd had been quick. Carl must never have seen it coming. None of them had.

"No." he sank onto the wet, wooden porch, allowing Carol to take hold of Judith. She hated to see him go through what she knew to be the most painful experience a parent could face. "Carl's...he's..."

"I'm so sorry." Glenn broke down. "We got stuck, he, he jumped up front to give the car gas while Maggie and I pushed..."

"We never saw it coming." Maggie added as he started to cry, too. The more they spoke about it, the more it felt as if she was reliving it.

"Where is he?" Rick stared at the three. "Where's my son?"

"Glenn tried to pull his...his body out." Beth bit her lip after the words came out. "But a bullet hit the gas tank..." she started to shake as she relived those moments.

Rick got to his feet and began to wander off. He didn't know where he was going, but he just had to move, to get away from there...from them!

"Rick!" Carol called after him.

"Let him go." Daryl whispered as he moved to stand next to her. "He needs to be alone for a bit, I don't blame him."

"There was nothing we could do." Glenn sobbed. "Nothing..."

"We know, son." Hershel hugged the younger man. "We know."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, etc. It feels good to get going on this story again! Sorry for how erratic I am in updating, but with work and everything, I don't always have time or energy. Enjoy!**

* * *

Rick slumped against a large oak tree and slowly slid to the ground, burying his face in his hands as he cried. He'd just started to repair his relationship with his son, and now...now Carl was gone. He'd been so happy at the thought of seeing his kids after what had happened at the prison, and when he found out his son was gone, it felt like someone had gutted him. He half imagined that it was all a dream. That he'd wake up back in his bunk at the prison and everyone one would still be alive, nothing would have changed. He hated the thought that he had gotten to the point where time at the prison was what he was wishing for, not the time before all of this began. He assumed it just meant that he was coming to terms with the world they were now living in.

He wiped his tears on the front of his shirt and took a deep breath. He knew that he should get back to the cabin, that they had a lot to discuss and decisions had to be made, but he couldn't bring himself to get to his feet. Everything was so messed up! In a span of about a year he'd lost a wife and one child and he knew that before everything was said and done, he'd be losing more friends. The thought made him feel sick. He wanted kill every walker out there to make this all end. But, even more than that, he wanted to find the living people who had ambushed that car. The supposed humans who took his son from him. That wouldn't happen if he simply sat in the woods by himself, wallowing in despair. He needed to pull himself together, not only for his little girl or the group as a whole, but so that he could find the people who ripped a piece of him to shreds.

* * *

"We don't have many supplies." Hershel said as he looked around the room. "We weren't able to grab much from the prison before we had to leave."

"The supplies we had went up with the car." Maggie sighed.

"What about the formula for Judith?" Carol asked as she bounced the baby on her knee.

"Beth tried to grab it, but there was no time." Maggie buried her face in her hands. "We lost everything."

"We'll just have to find some place to get a few supplies while we figure out what the hell we do next." Daryl shrugged.

"Do we know what's around here?" Beth asked as she stared out the window, waiting for Rick to reappear.

"There's a town to the west that we haven't hit yet." Daryl answered. "I've seen it on a map, but I'm not sure what they have or how picked over they are."

"It's worth a try." Hershel sat back in his chair. "I don't think any of wanna go out again so soon after what all's happened, but..."

"I'll go." Beth turned to her father.

"Beth, no." Maggie groaned.

"There's no reason for me not to go." Beth argued. "I can't just stay tucked away from any possible danger just because..." she swallowed hard. "I want to go."

"I'll look after her." Daryl spoke up. "She's becomin' a good shot and she needs more experience."

"I don't want my girl out there..." Hershel felt himself about to choke up.

"I'm gonna go, daddy." Beth said matter-of-factly. "There's no reason someone else should go and not me. It's not fair."

"Beth.." Maggie began. "After everything you've been through..."

"It's not like I'm the only one who's been through a lot. I'm going." Beth said again as she turned back to the window.

* * *

"You sure you're up to it?" Daryl asked as he climbed onto his bike.

"Yes." Beth sighed. It was the fifth time someone had asked her that same question in the span of about two hours. "Do you think Rick will be back today?" she asked.

He'd not been back since the day before, when he found out about Carl. They were worried about him, but none of them knew if they should head out looking for him. They knew he was capable of looking after himself, and on the bright side, they hadn't heard any shots being fired during the night. Beth, however, was worried that that might be a bad sign. She knew how despondent he'd become after losing Lori. She was afraid that losing Carl would send him over the edge.

"Who knows?" he shrugged. He wasn't going to let her, or anyone for that matter, see that Rick's absence was worrying him. It wouldn't do any good, so why do it? "Hold on tight." he instructed as he fired up the motor.

Beth stared around her as they rode along the quiet, empty road. It looked so peaceful, one might not suspect a walker was about to make a meal out of someone any second. One reason she'd been so adamant about going out was the fact that she needed to get away from the group. They usually babied her, which bothered her, but now after everything that had happened, people were treating her as though she was about to shatter into a million pieces. She very well may do just that if people didn't give her the benefit of the doubt that she was stronger than she appeared.

"Not much farther." Daryl called out over his shoulder.

Riding on the back of his bike made her a bit nervous, being so open to anything, not to mention the noise level. But, she had to admit, a car didn't offer much more protection under certain circumstances. She shuddered as the image of Carl's lifeless body flashed before her. The sound of the car exploding, seeing it fly through the air and land with a crushing thud onto the muddy lane would forever be burned into her memory.

"This is it." Daryl announced as he slowed down as they entered the city. "Let's just hope it's not totally picked over." he muttered as he cautiously looked around, sensitive to every sound.

"Hope not." Beth replied as they passed a tire repair shop that looked as though it had been looted a long time ago. She felt that that didn't bode well.

They pulled into the parking lot of a large store and he stopped the engine and looked around. It all seemed quiet. Too quiet for his liking. There didn't seem to be any people around, and no walkers.

"Guess this is as good a place to start as any." he said as he grabbed his crossbow so he had it at the ready.

"It's really quiet." Beth looked around, readying her own crossbow. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Have to wait and see." he headed to the front of the store, peering into the large glass door, trying to make out any movement. "Electric sliding doors, obviously not gonna be workin' now." he sighed as he waved Beth to follow him as he headed around the side, looking for a fire exit or any kind of side door. "Keep an eye out." he whispered as he crept along.

Beth did as she was told, staying as close to him as she could without tripping over him. "The doors weren't boarded over." she remarked. "And they weren't broken either."

"I found that a little odd, too." Daryl admitted. Here they were at a large big-box store, one that could be found all over the country, and yet, it looked completely untouched.

"The tire shop wasn't looking so good." she came to a stop as Daryl tried a large steel door. "Why ransack that place but leave this one untouched?"

"Good question, girl." Daryl groaned as he had no luck with the door and decided to move on to the next.

Beth nearly ran into him as he came to a sudden stop, his forearm in her midsection signalling her to stop. "What is it?" she whispered.

"Hear anythin'?" he asked.

She strained her ears and finally was able to figure out what he was talking about. She could make out the sound of cans being knocked around and bags being rummaged though somewhere around the corner. "Yeah." she nodded.

"Stay behind me." he said as he took a deep breath, brought his crossbow up, ready to be fired in an instant if needed, and quickly disappeared around the corner.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:I was re-reading all of the earlier chapters and I'm shocked at how many spelling errors, etc I found. Sorry for that and I will make a better effort to make sure that future chapters aren't so horribly butchered.**

* * *

Daryl took a deep breath and quickly moved around the corner of the building, his crossbow up and ready to fire when his gaze fell upon what had been making the noise.

"Daryl?" Beth whispered. "What is it?" she asked, thinking it must be a horrible sight if he just stood there silently.

"A dog." he chuckled as he lowered his weapon.

"A dog?" she asked as she moved to stand beside him and saw a shepherd mix staring at them. "Well that's anti-climatic." she laughed. "Hey, sweetie." she said as she moved forward slowly, holding her hand out.

"Don't go gettin' any ideas, girl." Daryl warned her as he looked through the fence that ran along the back of the store. He could hear the faint sound of trickling water and assumed a creek must be nearby on the other side.

"She doesn't look too skinny." Beth ran her hands over the dog gently. "She must be finding food somewhere." she looked over and saw him inspecting the fence. "See anything?" she asked as she joined him.

"Nope." he turned around and pulled out a cigarette. "I think I can see where she's gettin' food." he nodded to the dog as she crawled through a small opening where some of the cinder blocks that made up the building had come loose.

"You think it's safe in there?" she asked as she knelt down and peered through.

"The dog's still alive, and that hole ain't big enough for a walker to fit through." he looked her up and down. "You're a scrawny little thing though."

"Of course." she sighed. "You know, you're not exactly huge." she pointed out as she grabbed a flashlight from her pack and turned it on, trying her best to see anything. "There's a bit of a smell." she wrinkled her nose.

"See what it is." he urged her. "I'll keep an eye out out here and you try to find a way to get a door open for me."

"Yes, sir." she sighed as she got down onto her stomach, putting her crossbow in first and started to wiggle her way in. The hole was tight, and the broken blocks scraped on her skin as she pulled herself through. She hissed and saw welts starting to form on her sides and knew there was no way Daryl would be able to use that to get in as well. "It really stinks in here." she wanted to cover her nose, but both of her hands were already in use.

She carefully scanned the area, looking for any way to help him in get. Her flash light came to rest on a fire exit. "Hey, Daryl?" she crouched next to the small hole. "If there's no power, opening a fire exit shouldn't set an alarm off, right?"

"With no electricity to power it, I don't see why it would." he shook his head. "I can't open of the damn things from out here though."

"I know, I know." Beth sighed. "I just wanted to make sure before I tried opening one." she explained. Straightening herself, she dusted off her jeans and headed for the nearest fire exit. She took a deep breath,which she regretted with the foul smell in the place, and hoped that neither of them were wrong about an alarm going off. It took some effort, but finally she stumbled out the door without alarms blaring and Daryl simply moved past her without a word.

"Damn." he held his hand up to his nose. "Rotting meat." he said.

"You don't think it's people, do you?" she asked.

"Well, maybe that's what your new pet's been livin' off of." he replied.

"I hope not." she grimaced.

"This place probably has a grocery department." he laughed. "From the looks of it, it's all untouched, so the meat probably went to hell when the power went out."

"Looks like we're in the employee area." Beth moved her flash light around, liking that explanation more than the one about the rotting people. A time clock hung on a wall, an empty break room with tables overturned just beyond it. A few offices she assumed belonged to managers at one point sat empty and silent.

"Let's see if they've got any stock back here." Daryl moved off to his left, Beth following closely behind him. They entered what appeared to be the warehouse of the store and to their shock, the shelves were still full of unopened merchandise.

"Why hasn't this place been looted?" Beth moved a box to read the side. _Instant rice dinner._

"Hell if I know." Daryl spotted cases of beer. "I find it a bit unsettling that no one has taken all of this."

"I think it's too much to hope we just got lucky." she scanned for baby formula.

"It'd be nice for a change, huh?" Daryl nodded towards a pair of swinging doors. "Let's check out there."

Beth followed him as they entered the main, public part of the store, emerging in what was once the electronics department. "This is creepy." she hated being in dark, closed up stores. One of her friend's parents owned a hardware store and she's been there a couple of times after closing. She'd always felt like someone could just jump out at any time. And these days, she knew that to be the case.

"I'm not gonna say I disagree with you." Daryl stopped at a large bin filled with small boxes of candy, ready for shoppers to take home with them to munch on while they watched movies.

"The smell is really bad." she cringed as they headed towards the grocery side of the store.

"Meat and produce being left to rot for months will do that." he tried to not let it bother him.

They stopped as they looked around as they got to the edge of the grocery area. Shelves were still stocked with chips, candy, cookies, all sorts of junk food.

"Let's see what they have in the water aisle." he looked up at the signs as he walked along. "Damn." he said with a smile as he looked down the beverage aisle, still fully stocked.

"Why would someone not take this?" Beth asked as she took a bottle of juice from the shelf and checked its expiration date. "This is still good." She knew she was starting to repeat herself, but she could not for the life of her understand how this store still stood undisturbed.

"There's no way we can get all this back." he grabbed a gallon container of water.

"I'm gonna suggest something, and you're probably gonna thing I'm stupid..." Beth put the juice back. "But, that cabin is too small for all of us, and it would be such a pain to get all of this back..."

"Why not move everyone here?" he finished her thought as he glanced around them. "Still seems like somethin's wrong here."

"Do you think we should at least let the others know, so we can decide?" she headed off.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he followed her, still alert to any dangers.

"I see a sign for formula." she looked back at him. "Even if we convince the others to move here, Juju's not had much to eat in in almost two days."

"None of us has." Daryl eyed a display of beef jerky of different flavors. "You grab a bit of that, I'll grab something for the rest of us." he opened up his bag and started selecting some stuff.

* * *

Rick slowly made his way back to the cabin and saw Hershel sitting on the front porch. He'd taken the night to calm himself down, to have a good cry and to try to collect himself. He hurt like hell, but it didn't feel like when he'd lost Lori. Something was different this time, but he didn't know what. It wasn't that Carl didn't mean as much to him, in fact he felt that he had to stay sane in order to hunt down those who'd taken his boy from him. It was as though he had more of a purpose.

"Hey there." Hershel nodded as he saw the younger man approach.

"Hey." Rick replied hoarsely as he sat beside the old man. "Where's Daryl?" he asked when he noticed his bike was gone.

"He and Bethy headed to find supplies." Hershel didn't do well in hiding his nerves.

"You let her go?" Rick was shocked and a bit upset at the news.

"She wouldn't hear of staying here." he sighed. "I think she needed to get away after..." his voice dropped when he looked at Rick's disheveled appearance.

"I know." Rick nodded. "How long have they been gone?"

"A few hours." he took a deep breath. "They should be back soon enough. When they do get back, we've gotta figure out our next move." he eyed Rick closely. He was like the others, expecting Rick to snap at any time like had when Lori died. "Stupid question, but, how are ya?"

"Determined." Rick looked to him. "I'm gonna find who did this to Carl...to all of them...and I'm gonna make them pay."

"Good." Hershel nodded with a slight smile. "I know how you feel. I lost my wife and son, too." he reminded him. "He may have been my step-son, but I loved him like he was mine." He wasn't going to ask if Rick thought the Governor was behind the ambush. More than likely, that's exactly where Rick's mind went.

"I know." Rick took a deep breath. "Do we have anything to eat?" he asked as his stomach rumbled.

"Carol's dished most of it out to the youngest ones I think." he replied. "I'm hoping Daryl and Beth find something."

As if on cue, Daryl's bike could be heard rumbling along and they could see him swerving around potholes as they came down the lane. Beth's back pack seemed to be about to burst as they came to a stop.

"Had some luck?" Hershel grabbed his crutch and made his way to greet them.

"A little too much luck." Daryl said as he waited for Beth to get off the bike before dismounting himself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rick asked as he helped Beth remove the pack.

"We found a big box store totally untouched." Beth answered, happy to get the heavy bag off her back.

"Untouched?" Hershel opened the bag Rick held and looked through it.

"The only thing that appeared to be looted at all in that city was a little repair shop." Daryl grabbed a bag of the jerky he'd found and opened it up.

"Everything else was quiet?" Rick was torn between distrust, and being eager to get back to that store.

"Not a sound." Beth nodded as she looked Rick over. He was dirty, and she had to admit that he smelled awful, but other than that he seemed fine.

"Let's get this inside to Carol." Hershel said as he hopped onto the porch, Daryl behind him. "I bet that little girl of yours would like some of the formula."

Beth moved to follow when Rick stopped her. "You okay?" he asked.

"I think I should be askin' you that." she found it hard to look him in the eye.

"I'm not gonna lose it again like last time." he promised her as though he could read her thoughts. "I'm gonna keep sharp to find out who did this."

"You're sure?" she asked. "We don't wanna lose you again...I don't want to."

"I swear, I'm keeping it together this time." his hand brushed hers as the door to the cabin opened and Karen popped out.

"I'd get in here and grab some of this before it's gone." she smiled to Rick.

"Yeah." he nodded as he led Beth to the front door. "We've got decisions to make, too." he said as he closed the door behind them.


End file.
